Biggest piece of Crap ESC's ever..........Fightercat

[Make-a-Wake]

Yep, NOT HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

I have made a total of 3 passes with 2 ESC's only to have nothing left except a pile of burned garbage, a cracked canopy, 2 ruined recievers, a stinking hull and a stinking brand new Ford Explorer I had to haul the hull back in with...........

The first one had a faulty BEC or something and fried, taking out 2 receivers, then i was to receive another 8s 300a as a replacement but got a 200a 16s(??) for God knows why after several weeks of unresponsive emails..........the "moving the store" excuse has run out in my opinion.

I finally took out my beloved Vader today with the new ESC..............

It went 30 feet literally and blew up!!!!!! Canopy flew off and smoke like you wouldnt believe, swam out to it to dunk it and try to salvage the rest of my stuff............which i shouldnt have done, but then again I shouldnt have been in that position to start with.

I wont accept another "ESC" as a replacment, I have learned my lesson, I will lick my wounds an go on, but I will see if I get a refund and will let everyone here know how it turns out.

For anyone doubting my ability to set up a boat I will gladly post vids of all my 22 boats and how well they all run(see my signature for just a few), I have better things to do than post bogus "stories".

I have never owned such crap merchandise in my entire life

Once again, 3 passes with two different failing ESC's and Im out several hundred dollars including the two recievers and have only a stinking mess to show for it.................

If anyone wonders why I simply didnt "contact Fcat", its because it would take a week for a reply and I dont want anymore dangerous electronics near myself or my kids........just my money back. I will contact him to see if he will refund me and post the answer here.

This ESC in the pics below is literally blown apart running 8s2p and its a 16s..............note the caps are not swelled or popped, it wasnt overpropped/stressed................simply blew up.

I need to go get out of these wet clothes and wash the stink off of myself.

[srislash]

That SUCKS!!!

[lenny]

Sorry to hear that *!***!***!***!** happened to you Wake.
I was looking to buy a FC 200a or 300a esc to.:glare:
I will look into the seaking hv 80a or hv 130a for my setup in the 48"Stealth mono.

[Make-a-Wake]

The more I think about it the madder I get, what kind of junk is he selling?

Not to mention that i asked for an 8s 300a replcement and he randomly decided to give me whatever he had layin around I guess.

I should have just gotten a SF240a from Steven but was willing to take a chance and save some $$...............Ha!:angry: Now I'm down $200 and no ESC.

[Doby]

Sorry to hear about your luck....I'm running 2 on 10s in different boats with good results. One did die (with no fireworks thankfully)...just stopped and Ben replaced it with a newer and higher amperage rated one..... I'm sure he will make good eventually...just sucks about the mess...

[Make-a-Wake]

Well, he replaced the 8s 300a with a 16s 200a................I got a lower amperage model when all I was gonna run was 8s and wanted the headroom.

[domwilson]

What battery configuration were you running?

[RandyatBBY]

Dang I am sorry to hear this. I was hoping for better luck with the new product.

[Rumdog]

That sucks, man. I'm sure Ben will make it right. I've had good luck with his escs so far. I have a 16/300 I haven't used yet. Now you're making me nervous!

[FighterCat57]

That sucks, man. I'm sure Ben will make it right. I've had good luck with his escs so far. I have a 16/300 I haven't used yet. Now you're making me nervous!

Don't just wire it up and pull the trigger blindly and you won't have anything to worry about. I sell hundreds of these every month with very little issue, they are very popular and very stable. Just make sure you program it.

... or you can make repeated fires and post defamatory remarks demanding money...

ESC's don't just blow up. They melt when they are improperly configured and the electronics reach a threshold beyond spec.

He didn't test his setup, he just went in unconfigured and burned up several perfectly good controllers in a row..

[carlcisneros]

Rumdog;
just use the program box and you will be fine.
Start on the very conservative side for timing purposes. D Wind 3-5 deg (Normal timing) and Wye Wind 5 deg (starting point)
They are a very robust controller and can and will last many a moon.
Don't be afraid to use it guy.

[Rumdog]

I'm not really scared. Both my other FC escs work great. The program box is super simple to use. I've never ran an esc without setting it up first. Plus, I did read the warnings about setting it up proper on FC's site

[carlcisneros]

:iagree::banana::rockon2:

[Make-a-Wake]

Quote Fightercat: "Don't just wire it up and pull the trigger blindly and you won't have anything to worry about."

Well, hmmmm, wouldnt it help a consumer if you had given them instructions with the esc??? All i got was a PDF file sent from you a week later when you finally returned my email.



"I sell hundreds of these every month with very little issue, they are very popular and very stable."

You talkin about the 16s 200a?? You discontinued it remember?



"Just make sure you program it."

I never recieved a program box with it! There is also no mention that it has to be programmed..............there's no "these arent plug and play" statement in the instructions you sent me.

Here's what you emailed me: http://fightercatracing.com/index.php?page=shop.getfile&file_id=442&product_id=239&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Notice there is no mention of running any minimum timing for a 4 pole motor.........which was pointed out to me today to be 5*..........so I was at zero, a 5 degree difference for it to explode? Get real.



or you can make repeated fires and post defamatory remarks demanding money...

Nope, wrong again, just one fire, today, the BEC crapped out on the other one and it fried my recievers remember. I also never demanded a refund...............are you just makin this stuff up as you go along?



ESC's don't just blow up. They melt when they are improperly configured and the electronics reach a threshold beyond spec.

Well, then the one you sent me was improperly configured.........what spec was it beyond in a 30 foot pass trying to get on plane? :confused2:



He didn't test his setup, he just went in unconfigured

OK, tell me where these great instructions say I need to "configure it".......seriously, I have them and so do you, point it out to me!!!



and burned up several perfectly good controllers in a row

Man, do you even know which upset customer this is? The BEC gave out on the 8s 300a and you sent me the wrong ESCas a replacement(16s 200a)..........you know, the discontinued one, probably made your day to unload that thing on someone who didnt even want it. I'll refresh you on the 8s model, here's what your reply was: "The BEC's in that ESC are weak, only about 3 amps. Most of the big boat servo's pull much more and can typically knock out an MCU in about a minutes time."

What I posted is exactly what happened, shame on me for not videotaping it, but i thought the chance of another issue was very slim. The time a spent posting this reply could have been spent with my kids, I wouldnt spend time on this if it didnt happen as I said and I felt that i did nothing wrong.

NO instructions
NO minimum timing mentioned in the file you sent me
NO mention of it needing to be "configured"
NO 300a ESC sent to replace the other one I bought..........i got an old 16s 200a.

If you feel good about it Ben, then thats all that should matter to you. I hope the money goes towards helping your business prosper further, I just wont be one to support it any further

[FighterCat57]

Quote Fightercat: "Don't just wire it up and pull the trigger blindly and you won't have anything to worry about."

Well, hmmmm, wouldnt it help a consumer if you had given them instructions with the esc??? All i got was a PDF file sent from you a week later when you finally returned my email.



"I sell hundreds of these every month with very little issue, they are very popular and very stable."

You talkin about the 16s 200a?? You discontinued it remember?



"Just make sure you program it."

I never recieved a program box with it! There is also no mention that it has to be programmed..............there's no "these arent plug and play" statement in the instructions you sent me.

Here's what you emailed me: http://fightercatracing.com/index.php?page=shop.getfile&file_id=442&product_id=239&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Notice there is no mention of running any minimum timing for a 4 pole motor.........which was pointed out to me today to be 5*..........so I was at zero, a 5 degree difference for it to explode? Get real.



or you can make repeated fires and post defamatory remarks demanding money...

Nope, wrong again, just one fire, today, the BEC crapped out on the other one and it fried my recievers remember. I also never demanded a refund...............are you just makin this stuff up as you go along?



ESC's don't just blow up. They melt when they are improperly configured and the electronics reach a threshold beyond spec.

Well, then the one you sent me was improperly configured.........what spec was it beyond in a 30 foot pass trying to get on plane? :confused2:



He didn't test his setup, he just went in unconfigured

OK, tell me where these great instructions say I need to "configure it".......seriously, I have them and so do you, point it out to me!!!



and burned up several perfectly good controllers in a row

Man, do you even know which upset customer this is? The BEC gave out on the 8s 300a and you sent me the wrong ESCas a replacement(16s 200a)..........you know, the discontinued one, probably made your day to unload that thing on someone who didnt even want it. I'll refresh you on the 8s model, here's what your reply was: "The BEC's in that ESC are weak, only about 3 amps. Most of the big boat servo's pull much more and can typically knock out an MCU in about a minutes time."

What I posted is exactly what happened, shame on me for not videotaping it, but i thought the chance of another issue was very slim. The time a spent posting this reply could have been spent with my kids, I wouldnt spend time on this if it didnt happen as I said and I felt that i did nothing wrong.

NO instructions
NO minimum timing mentioned in the file you sent me
NO mention of it needing to be "configured"
NO 300a ESC sent to replace the other one I bought..........i got an old 16s 200a.

If you feel good about it Ben, then thats all that should matter to you. I hope the money goes towards helping your business prosper further, I just wont be one to support it any further









It's clear why they both caught fire and clear you don't know what you're doing or what you're talking about.

You are now bitching about a free replacement and a free upgrade to a higher capacity ESC. (your photos show a 16s/320 model. )

You paid for a 16s/200 at a big discount that you begged for and received an 8s/300 upgrade and a 16s/300 upgrade, of which you burned up all of them.

You are bitching at me because you didn't read the instructions... or ask how to program it... :confused2:

...My guess is that you got the ESCs wet. That's usually when they look like this. Operating an ESC while submerged is a no-no by any manufacturer.

I think that's enough of this, I can understand your frustration, but it's very clearly misplaced.

I'd offer you a refund, or even another controller if you were to learn to read, but honestly you're being a Dick and I just don't tolerate that kind of attitude from anyone.

Carry on. :Peace_Sign:

[FighterCat57]

Sorry... I couldn't resist;

On Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 11:43 AM, Carl S***k <*******> wrote:
Hi Ben, got the 8s 300a, looks real beefy, does it have a BEC? It says switching bec on it. I wanna run it today for the first time, thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

[Diegoboy]

It's clear why they both caught fire and clear you don't know what you're doing or what you're talking about.

You are now bitching about a free replacement and a free upgrade to a higher capacity ESC. (your photos show a 16s/320 model. )

You paid for a 16s/200 at a big discount that you begged for and received an 8s/300 upgrade and a 16s/300 upgrade, of which you burned up all of them.

You are bitching at me because you didn't read the instructions... or ask how to program it... :confused2:

...My guess is that you got the ESCs wet. That's usually when they look like this. Operating an ESC while submerged is a no-no by any manufacturer.

I think that's enough of this, I can understand your frustration, but it's very clearly misplaced.

I'd offer you a refund, or even another controller if you were to learn to read, but honestly you're being a Dick and I just don't tolerate that kind of attitude from anyone.

Carry on. :Peace_Sign:

I wonder if the people reading this thread will get the feeling that if they buy a product, have problems, get called stupid among other things in public.
I think you, as a reseller, should have handled this more professionally. "this" meaning this complaint, not the previous ones.

[FighterCat57]

I wonder if the people reading this thread will get the feeling that if they buy a product, have problems, get called stupid among other things in public.
I think you, as a reseller, should have handled this more professionally. "this" meaning this complaint, not the previous ones.


Danny, this was a personal attack and was responded to as such. Twist it how you want, but it's personal.


You, of all people should be tired of reading product bashing posts by uninformed people. It's bad for the industry and those that serve.

BTW- Not being a Dick is a requirement of membership and terms of service for his purchase. It's not being vulgar. I do apologize if anyone was offended by this reference, but it's corporate policy.

This situation makes me sad and makes me not want to spend my nights and weekends working on product improvement. It makes me really re-think why I've soaked nearly $100k into making new products for the Fast Electric world.

This kind of behavior is unacceptable and needs to stop. The fact that you are siding with a bashing thread makes me wonder why you're a moderator.

Anyway, I've got more programming to do, working on the new data logging in these "biggest piece of crap ESC's ever".



FYI - I've donated 3 new 400a model controllers to the NAMBA nationals in the Name of Carl Schock.

Sorry Carl, it's not a tax deduction, but you can stop claiming this is about money... it's about you, making a personal attack on me, who's been trying to help you despite your 3 month long string of annoying email.

[Diegoboy]

Assume all you want Ben. I took no sides. I simply stated a FACT that your way of dealing with this was unprofessional, weather the reason was warranted or not. Show me where I made any comment supporting one side or the other... You can't!
You are clearly on one side of this complaint and the fact that I refused to support YOUR side makes you feel that I am bias? WRONG.

[Rumdog]

Look out, Ben! Danny's out to get ya again!

[anthonyniel19]

Wow! This is really very nice and I like this information. Thanks for sharing information because when a newbie is going to create that time such information will be prove as useful. How to prevent from the other outsider to our system that also mention here.

[domwilson]

I got an idea. How about the OP and Ben take this to the side lines and make another attempt at resolving this? There are some obvious points to be made from both sides. But I do believe that they can arrive at a mutually beneficial solution if they come to some sort of agreement. The question here is are they willing to try to resolve this one more time? Perhaps, Ben can preprogram another ESC and the OP can report back the results?

[TheShaughnessy]

So are those fighter cat esc's going in the raffle? Wouldn't mind winning one.

[RaceMechaniX]

To back Ben here, I have run 5 of his esc's ranging from the small 140A to the largest twin board 400A. Everytime I have used the program box to set-up the esc prior to plugging in. I have pushed his controllers well beyond their limits, but have had ample cooling, good connectors, short wires and no leaks. I have only failed one esc due to my own fault of a small water leak which ended up in a failed esc.

Ben has been very accomodating to most of us and the fact that he does send replacements promptly(even it is a slightly different model) is better than most in this hobby.

Without knowing the whole story and set-up this is just a errant rant.

[keithbradley]

"Canopy flew off and smoke like you wouldn't believe"

Do you mean it came off when you were running? Why?

I have used a number of Fighter Cat ESCs. The 16/300s have worked well for me, I'm actually running a pair of 100A Fighter Cat ESCs in my DF Explorer at over 80mph with no issues.
I have noticed with the FC ESCs that they are very vulnerable to water. Of course you shouldn't get any ESC wet, but I reccomend using corrosion X on them before even running them. They do not have a high resistance to water at all, so getting them just a little wet without the corrosionX can cause problems.

I've had good luck with both oven cleaner, wheel cleaner (acidic), and some other solvents when having an ESC do that in a hull. I had a pretty bad case of the stinky hull myself due to a couple faulty castle 120A HVs last year. Best of luck getting that thing cleaned up Make-a-wake.

Also, I think it's apparent that a couple people have it out for FC (Im not talking about OP, he's obviously mad about his expereince). I actually like Danny and think he is generally a great mod, but he gets very opinionated and biased whenever FC comes up. There seems to be some bad blood there. I'm not sure where it comes from but I think it's obvious to everyone but him.

[keithbradley]

To add, in my experience, it's fairly normal for Ben to upgrade an ESC to a higher model, or give freebies, ect. I actually spoke with him about people running 8s on the 8/300 and my opinion was that it's a little risky and 8s should be ran on a HV controller. I'm fairly certain I told you the same thing in another thread M-a-W. I think Ben just wanted to make sure you didn't have any more problems so he upgraded you to the HV ESC. You two can work things out however you see fit, and I'm not trying to make a case for your ESC being good, bad, or whatever...just saying that I don't think the upgrade was malicious.

[keithbradley]

This stuff will let you wipe the black soot away like it's just dust, really:
http://www.apmengineparts.com/002101.html

Obviously you would want to find it in smaller qty, but it works great if you can't find something else.

[Make-a-Wake]

Well, once again you are incorrect Ben, unless you make a habit of wrapping 300a ESC's in 200a labels. I'll post a picture of it when I get home, how can it be that everything I say is a lie acoording to you, you dont know me and you have no clue of my integrity, my posts on here are very helpful and in a cheerful, positive manner. This type of thread is very unlike me, but enough is enough for folks at some point. I have PM after PM from folks on here asking for my help..........why would they pick me, cuz I help them happily and they are successful with my help.........then they ask me again. I'll post a whole page of them and the members can verify that they are genuine.
These mods and Steven are aware of who I am and have access to all my posts, I have never even had one of them require me to change a post or give me a wrist slap.

Great PR for your "company" when you call folks "Dicks".................what is this, 3rd grade???

I'm curious to see if anyone on this thread besides you thinks I just decided to make a big thread of lies and take time i could be spending with my family.........or boating.

PS - I recieved an email stating something of a refund to me from fightercat, if this is true and it gets to me then I will ask the mods to wipe this thread out completely.

[Make-a-Wake]

"Canopy flew off and smoke like you wouldn't believe"

Do you mean it came off when you were running? Why?



When I run a new ESC I tend to not use my hatch bolts, only the front tongue and a good tape job in case it has to be opened for a "tweak" or reposition, or a more serious issue. All my other boats are ran with the hatchbolts in place.

[Make-a-Wake]

Here's my 70 mph 47" Kevlar mono that has the same 240hv Swordy that i built it with a year ago.

QoAGiEHFCfs

[carlcisneros]

YO MAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I handed a copy of the sheets you attached to one of your threads about what was e-mailed to you to my teenage daughter and I asked her
what she read afterwards, her reply was" it says you must program the esc before you operate it." also, you admitted to NOT KNOWING how to
adjust timing and ran it like it was. HHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[egneg]

I was considering the 300 or 400 amp esc until I saw the price for a 90 day warranty coverage.

[Make-a-Wake]

YO MAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I handed a copy of the sheets you attached to one of your threads about what was e-mailed to you to my teenage daughter and I asked her
what she read afterwards, her reply was" it says you must program the esc before you operate it." also, you admitted to NOT KNOWING how to
adjust timing and ran it like it was. HHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Dude, what are you, Ben's PR guy? How does your teenage daughters comprehension skills have anything to do with my situation 1000 miles away from you?

I told you............I had NO programming box..................so i read the defaults and they all seemed in line, 5* timing is exactly 5 degrees away from the default of zero....................EVERYTHING else was within normal parameters. So as another member mentioned earlier, its ridiculous that a 5 degree difference would cause it to melt down.

So do you understand this time that I had NO program box, was not told I needed one and went off the defaults.

So do you understand this time that I had NO program box, was not told I needed one and went off the defaults.

[carlcisneros]

viola,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Make-a-Wake]

viola,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Great, then you understand:Peace_Sign:

[keithbradley]

M-a-W,

Whatever ESC you end up getting for this boat, I would suggest doing a bench test with it before you run the boats. Any time I have a boat fry two ESCs back-to-back (It has happened), I get a little suspicious.
I had a Feigao motor back in the day that cost me 3 ESCs before I was hip to what was going on (the motor seemed physically fine and was relatively new too, turned fine, ect.). It would be good to make sure somethinig is not going on with your motor before you risk melting another one of these inside the hull.

[Make-a-Wake]

Hi Keith, I did fire it up at home. I calibrated the throttle range on 4s and spun it up which is fine on the bench at that voltage.

[Diegoboy]

Also, I think it's apparent that a couple people have it out for FC (Im not talking about OP, he's obviously mad about his expereince). I actually like Danny and think he is generally a great mod, but he gets very opinionated and biased whenever FC comes up. There seems to be some bad blood there. I'm not sure where it comes from but I think it's obvious to everyone but him.

Show me the bias I posted in this thread.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Doug Smock]

PS - I recieved an email stating something of a refund to me from fightercat, if this is true and it gets to me then I will ask the mods to wipe this thread out completely.

Hey this is great!!
So why is this thread still active??
C'mon guys. OSE is better than this:thumbdown:
Danny............

[domwilson]

Repeating myself...

"I got an idea. How about the OP and Ben take this to the side lines and make another attempt at resolving this? There are some obvious points to be made from both sides. But I do believe that they can arrive at a mutually beneficial solution if they come to some sort of agreement. The question here is are they willing to try to resolve this one more time? Perhaps, Ben can preprogram another ESC and the OP can report back the results?"

[domwilson]

Let's let the two parties involved resolve this issue. I think both want to come to an equitable settlement.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Repeating myself...

"I got an idea. How about the OP and Ben take this to the side lines and make another attempt at resolving this? There are some obvious points to be made from both sides. But I do believe that they can arrive at a mutually beneficial solution if they come to some sort of agreement. The question here is are they willing to try to resolve this one more time? Perhaps, Ben can preprogram another ESC and the OP can report back the results?"

Doms right. This needs to be handled offline. Beating each other up online is only making things worse. This thread needs to be closed.