Destroyed in one second! Traxxas quality control thanks again!

[JPriami]

So here is a brand new Spartan. First day at the lake this weekend testing her out.
And low and behold something goes terribly wrong!

4GRJ2HzKIRI
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GRJ2HzKIRI)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/fb933d91-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/9c546b15.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/99da4939.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/53ad1d10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/2d554f3e.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/Jpriami/Traxxas%20Spartan2/b3a06a97.jpg

From the damage and the video it looks like the hull folded in half just in front of the inner support/2nd layer of hull. there are cracks on the floor of the hull that makes me wonder if they busted and water came in and the force of it folded the boat in half. Also the top and bottom halves of the boat dont seem to be joined all that well so that could of contributed to the folding in half. All I can figure is the hull was extra thin up front and just gave in. Because I ran my boat that same day with no problems. Also my boat has been in a few crashes and nothing like this has ever happened.
Before its asked no the boat didnt hit anything in the water. there are no marks on the bottom of the hull or anywhere that suggest it was a strike. Ive watched the video at 1 frame per second and its not the best shot but it looks like the boat just exploded to a dead stop. So unreal!
Any thoughts on this are welcome.

[Alexgar]

Plastic hull no telling that so weird I've had a couple traxxas boat and was dissapointed with there quality over time they became brittle but never even came close to that speed but if they did I could imagine they same results

[bbosncali]

that sucks all that work you put into it and the hull fails.... traxxas has built a lemon.... not just the electronics i guess anymore. hopefully theyll warranty it!!!

[JPriami]

Just so it's known that wasn't my personal Spartan. It was the one I did work too for someone. And then testing it this happens. It was doing about. 55mph.

[bbosncali]

Ohh I know it wasn't yours I noticed the sweet pickups you put the bottom of the hull... you don't think something got to hot and melted it do ya? Will traxxas warranty something like that since its been modded???

[JPriami]

Not sure about the warranty. No heat was used in anything I did. And there is no chance the pickups in back caused the front/mid part of the boat to fold in half.

[bbosncali]

I meant by the motor or esc but you could tell between crushing and folding and melted plastic.... its too bad cause this boat got all this hype and its done nothing but disapoint. I was very close to buying one but wanted a cat so I opted for the mg after all thes bad posts I'm kinda glad I went that way. Just like my buddy shaun hits 50.7 stock next outing it sounds like the chitty chitty bang bang car what a shame... I actually like a lot of traxxas products I've had my share of tmaxxs revos and even own a mini revo now for the most part they got those down they just need to go back to the r and d department an work on there boat line. Hey you can always throw all the stock parts back in it call them up and say hey this is what happen I hear the customer service is pretty good atleast

[JPriami]

I wanted the miss geico too. Still do. But the smaller size was a turn off. I thought a larger boat like the Spartan would be fun. Boy was that a bad call lol. I like cats better anyways.

[wilsta67]

I wanted the miss geico too. Still do. But the smaller size was a turn off. I thought a larger boat like the Spartan would be fun. Boy was that a bad call lol. I like cats better anyways.

i think the geico could probably handle the power you have applied to the spartan.
being fibre glass. i have bought one myself its arrived in customs and i cant wait.
should have it by the week end.

[wilsta67]

thats weird how your boat folded are you sure you never hit a turtle or something?

[bbosncali]

I wanted the miss geico too. Still do. But the smaller size was a turn off. I thought a larger boat like the Spartan would be fun. Boy was that a bad call lol. I like cats better anyways.

But its really only 6inches shorter and about 6inches wider... shaun was try like hell to talk me into the spartan but I stuck to my guns cause I wanted the cat over the v. I just love the way they look. And I'm a lot like you and many others I bought it never ran it tore it apart and modded it now its all about tuning. Just wish I went with a lower kv motor but we'll see what I can get on 4s. Hey it was still as fast as his stock 6s just the way it was without any adjustments and only an x642 so there lots of room for propping up

[Steven Vaccaro]

Something happened at :34 to make it nose drive. Most likely a fish or something. It happens to all of us every once in a while. Things are going good and all of a sudden the boat darts without warning.

[Shaun78]

that makes sense Steve. any prop damage

[JPriami]

No prop damage or scuffs on bottom of hull.
A fish? Awe man that blows. And a first for me.

[Diesel6401]

I wanted the miss geico too. Still do. But the smaller size was a turn off. I thought a larger boat like the Spartan would be fun. Boy was that a bad call lol. I like cats better anyways.

Meet in the middle at a Pursuit mono.... 32" and a straight BLAST. Stable and build good, will run circles around a Spartan

It's about 6mph faster now then in this video, I didn't have the throttle calibrated on the esc :doh: so in this video it wasn't full WOT... This is on 4s2p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOc9vU1ltsY

[ray schrauwen]

Just so it's known that wasn't my personal Spartan. It was the one I did work too for someone. And then testing it this happens. It was doing about. 55mph.

I'll say I told you so because I did. I originally told people when this first came out that a plastic hull is not capable of high speeds without this sort of catastrophic failure.

Caveat Emptor :Peace_Sign: :sleep:

[ray schrauwen]

If it was very cold water and the motors, esc or lipos heat up enough the air pressure could possibly blow the seams apart while under stress.

[JPriami]

Thanks ray. I never said you were wrong. In fact I've wondered about how these hulls would hold up over 50mph in time. Let's just say some of us are taking traxxas claims about the boat to the proving grounds. :)
And making useful information for those wanting to know about these boats. I know if I was someone else right now looking for a new boat in this price range I'd really appreciate some information supplied by others on if what I'm looking at is a lemon or a gem.

[PeterTRAXXAS]

I thought for sure the boat hit something in the video, but the Spartan project lead says it’s a defective hull with an insufficient bond between the upper and lower hull. We'll replace it if the customer contacts us.

To me, it looks like the top deck separated first, which allowed the now-unsupported lower hull to flex and “dig into” the water, stopping it dead in its tracks and causing secondary damage. At any rate, we'll cover it. If the hull popped because the driver ran it into a wall, that would be different--but that's not the case here.

[JPriami]

Why thank you for taking a look at this Peter. I will let the owner know what you said.

[PeterTRAXXAS]

All good, we'll make it right.

[dag-nabit]

All good, we'll make it right.

Good to see you visiting here again Peter :thumbup1:

Also encouraging to hear that Traxxas is going to stand behind the hull, even with the mods done.

Kevin

[Diesel6401]

I thought for sure the boat hit something in the video, but the Spartan project lead says it’s a defective hull with an insufficient bond between the upper and lower hull. We'll replace it if the customer contacts us.

To me, it looks like the top deck separated first, which allowed the now-unsupported lower hull to flex and “dig into” the water, stopping it dead in its tracks and causing secondary damage. At any rate, we'll cover it. If the hull popped because the driver ran it into a wall, that would be different--but that's not the case here.


All good, we'll make it right.


Round of applause for stepping up and handling this in the proper manor!

:thumbup1:

[PeterTRAXXAS]

If the mods caused the problem, that would be different, of course. But if the hull wasn't bonded right, it wasn't bonded right--we're not a "gotcha" company that's going to bone you on a technicality.

[egneg]

I had the same kind of thing happen last year. The boat subbed for no apparent reason.

[GeoVW72]

:blink: wow, sucks to have all that work go up like that
Good to see you back Peter
I know these guys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPpK1vowr8g) have beat the crap out of the hulls, and with the way the weather has been around here mine has seen some flight time.
hull must have just been joined bad.

[johnf]

I don't have a Spartan, but can say traxxas has always had great service for my other stuff. It always came out no cost to me, and extremely low down time. Peter's posting is an accurate representation of my past dealings with them.

[shctexas]

Wow! Well, I'm impressed.

[Doby]

I had the same kind of thing happen last year. The boat subbed for no apparent reason.

Is that a FG hull Eggy??? I tought only plastic hulls were supposed to do that....at least according to most opinions on here...

[Punisher 67]

I hit a duck about 20 years ago that had dove down and came up at the wrong time in the wrong place . The boat only did 20 mph , the duck survived and swam off . I was more worried for the duck than I was for the boat

[Steven Vaccaro]

Is that a FG hull Eggy??? I tought only plastic hulls were supposed to do that....at least according to most opinions on here...

Many different material boats will break at 50mph. I'm not engineer but the force involved with a 6-7 pound boat crashing at 50mph much be rather strong!

[egneg]

Is that a FG hull Eggy??? I tought only plastic hulls were supposed to do that....at least according to most opinions on here...

Yes it was a FG Bandit Boats El Lobo IV. It was at about 50 in the front straight just before turn 1 when bam!

[dayne]

yea traxxas does let some quality issuses get by them. such as today i was puttin some decals i bought and i noticed that the graphics on sides of the bottom hull arent even on my boat on side without the water outlet the graphics go all the way up 2 the bottom of the top hull but on the side with the water outlet they only come up a quarter of the way up the side. i have seen in some pics that others are the same but i have seen other that the graphics are even on both sides but idk just rambling i guess

[bbosncali]

yea traxxas does let some quality issuses get by them. such as today i was puttin some decals i bought and i noticed that the graphics on sides of the bottom hull arent even on my boat on side without the water outlet the graphics go all the way up 2 the bottom of the top hull but on the side with the water outlet they only come up a quarter of the way up the side. i have seen in some pics that others are the same but i have seen other that the graphics are even on both sides but idk just rambling i guess

That's just so your can go faster!!!! Less weight more aerodynamics....:-)

[§Bodo§]

May you got some vacuum in the boat? Did you attatch the hatch with tape? The phemomenon is described here, unfortunatly only in german (the text on the right side)
http://www.gundert-modellboote.de/katalog/x152.jpg

They say, that if your boat is hemetic, possibly the prob sucks the air out of the boat (via the tube) which will cause the behavior you showed us. To avoid that they suggest to link the tube with fuel line to the outside of the boat.

Just an idea.

[JPriami]

I didnt read the link. But it sounds like it refers to a fuel powered boat. And the engine might be sucking all the air out and causing it to implode?

I don't know how this would be on a FE boat.

Interesting tho

[ray schrauwen]

Yes it was a FG Bandit Boats El Lobo IV. It was at about 50 in the front straight just before turn 1 when bam!

Bandit boats were known for their not the best quality of hulls. I had a shovel nose that went all soft pretty fast. I had to do alot of reinforcements.

[§Bodo§]

Hello JPriami, it refers definatly to FE-Boats.

The fule tube is not used for real fuel for nitro racing, it is used to transfer air from the tube on which an outlet for grease/oiling is applied to the outside of the boat. This shoult prevent the situation that the prop sucks air via the tube out of the boat. With the line installed the prop sucks the air from outside of the boat via the tube, so no vacuum can occure. In case of flipping the boat the outlet of the fuel (air) line must be positioned, maybe on the transom, in a place which is above the waterline, even if the boat flips.

The whole phenomenon occures because the will be suction on the frontside of the prop which continues through the tube to the inside of the boat.

[BHChieftain]

I don't own this boat, but I do have a little Traxxas Blast that is currently my rescue boat.

When I first had the boat, I knew nothing about the hobby and proceeded to run a 5000mah pack on the UNCOOLED brushed motor for 20minutes and burned it up. Traxxas repaired it for free, and sent me a cooling kit to boot.

Then I sank it once, and burned out the ESC. They fixed that too for a nominal charge, even when this was completely my fault.

You get what you pay for in terms of buld quality with these RTRs, but so far I've been very impressed with Traxxas customer service.

It pays off for them, since because of the great service I bought a Slash truck for my son. (Try as we might to destroy that one, the darn thing just won't break...)

Chief

[Panama Jack]

Most people here would agree with you that traxxas has had great service over the years, but the problems with launching a product that has not been finished nor fully tested, Is another thing.

The spartan was not ready to be launched, but was launched anyways with over heating problems. and unrelaible electronics.

[shctexas]

Well, well, well...... Another hull failure. Not as dramatic as Justin's but a failure non-the-less. The right side of the deck has detached from the hull. I don't mind following Jutin's lead but this is a bit much

[JPriami]

Lets see

[wparsons]

Can't say for sure, but it definitely looks like it hit something in the video.

I ripped a good chunk of the transom off a smaller fiberglass boat going substantially slower than this just by hitting a twig. It's a HK Small Bolt that was only at about 2/3 throttle.

http://vnc.thewpp.ca/photos/toys/smallboltdamage00.jpg

http://vnc.thewpp.ca/photos/toys/smallboltdamage01.jpg

[JPriami]

yeah looks like you hit something. Ive had that happen on one of my cats. on the rudder. But it just messed up the rudder.

Then on a hydro that ran into the bank gone wild. busted the transom. So I fixed it then made a aluminum plate to make it stronger that spanned the whole back of the transom.

[wparsons]

Oh I saw the twig that I hit AFTER I hit it.. D'Oh! Didn't see it at all before though. It was about 1/4" diameter and about 18" long.

I put lite ply reinforcement on the inside of the transom and epoxied it all back together, including thin epoxy to seal the gelcoat down.

[bigwaveohs]

Looks and sounds like you could have hit a "roller" and stuffed it...JMHO.