Crashed UL-1 Superior

[Hultman]

Third run on brand new boat and the controls locked up. Wide open, directly in to a concrete wall. The hull is pretty much a write-off. Anyone have a source for new hulls for these boats?

I love the boat and if I have to, I'll buy another one!

Of course, then I've got to figure out what happened to the controls!

Help!

Jim

[robbo1]

Sounds nasty! I had the same issue once… stuck wide open throttle with no steer. Luckily was quite a large lake, when it decided to stop.

I could not work out why this happened. Some possible causes mentioned by experienced guys were… receiver below water line, range issue, some sort of interference (was using 2.4ghz), water in the electronics or cheap radio.

None of these were the problem, except the possibility of cheap radio. I wasn't going to the lake again until the issue was rectified. I changed to a spektrum radio, since then never had a problem.

[tlandauer]

There should be throttle fail-safe, when there is a loss of radio signal, the ESC should go into "fail-safe" mode and stop the motor.
If this is a brand new boat and you ran it as stock, I suggest you call Aqua Craft and discuss this issue with them.

[Hultman]

There should be throttle fail-safe, when there is a loss of radio signal, the ESC should go into "fail-safe" mode and stop the motor.
If this is a brand new boat and you ran it as stock, I suggest you call Aqua Craft and discuss this issue with them.

Good idea. I dropped them an email with the specifics.

My big problem is that I'm in love with the boat! I have a couple Traxxas Spartans and an outboard picklefork, but when this thing get hooked up this boat is like love on water!

[tlandauer]

Well, let's hope that the Customer Service would be of some help, as I said, this should not have happened and if you were running stock, there should be some kind of help/support.
Keep us posted and good luck!
I fell in love with hydros and tunnels, now I am running a Zippkits JAE 21 rigger. I still love monos but I found out that I really prefer the other genres.

[Hultman]

Well, let's hope that the Customer Service would be of some help, as I said, this should not have happened and if you were running stock, there should be some kind of help/support.
Keep us posted and good luck!

I've had a good experience with a fellow by the name of Adam at customer support, and it was even implied that the warranty might apply here! Of course I've already bought a replacement boat, but it would be fun to have two to race against each other. We'll see how this all works out!

[tlandauer]

That is very good news!
One thing I do is I test the fail safe in the following manner: Boat on stand without prop, pull very little throttle, NO full throttle on bench test! I turn my radio ( Transmitter) off, the motor should stop.
I have used the Tactic radio on many of my boats, one or two units had a shorter range, I had fail-safe working both times , but I junked those two receivers, it was a mystery, it happens with mass produced items --- I guess.

[Hultman]

That is very good news!
One thing I do is I test the fail safe in the following manner: Boat on stand without prop, pull very little throttle, NO full throttle on bench test! I turn my radio ( Transmitter) off, the motor should stop.
I have used the Tactic radio on many of my boats, one or two units had a shorter range, I had fail-safe working both times , but I junked those two receivers, it was a mystery, it happens with mass produced items --- I guess.

I was never really sure about this fail safe thing. In this particular incident, the one thing I had time for before the boat crashed was to turn off the transmitter. No effect whatsoever. I think that supports the warranty claim, right?

[tlandauer]

Yes!

[Hultman]

Update on warranty claim. Adam from Hobbico is handling it and informs me that it will be covered in full. However, they are presently out of UL-1's, so I asked if I could upgrade to a Lucas Cat, obviously paying the difference, and he agreed. I've done the payment and am now only awaiting delivery of the cat.

In this day and age of "Screw you" warranties, this fascinates me. Kinda sad in a way when you're so impressed by something that should be normal, but it is still a real breath of fresh air when you find it.

Of course it isn't done yet, as I don't have the Cat in hand, but I'm so impressed with these guys it would be a real surprise if they don't follow through.

Don't know if this is a serious case of business values, vision and mission, or just some really, really good employees, but either way, as much whining as we all do when things screw up, thought it would be appropriate to offer a thank you when things go right.

Thanks!

[waterproof]

That must be a nightmare for you when the boat dosnt stop by the failsafe.
Its good for you that they will replace it/change it to another model :)
This was the first time i have hear or read about failsafe that not works.

[Doby]

Update on warranty claim. Adam from Hobbico is handling it and informs me that it will be covered in full. However, they are presently out of UL-1's, so I asked if I could upgrade to a Lucas Cat, obviously paying the difference, and he agreed. I've done the payment and am now only awaiting delivery of the cat.

In this day and age of "Screw you" warranties, this fascinates me. Kinda sad in a way when you're so impressed by something that should be normal, but it is still a real breath of fresh air when you find it.

Of course it isn't done yet, as I don't have the Cat in hand, but I'm so impressed with these guys it would be a real surprise if they don't follow through.

Don't know if this is a serious case of business values, vision and mission, or just some really, really good employees, but either way, as much whining as we all do when things screw up, thought it would be appropriate to offer a thank you when things go right.

Thanks!

Aquacraft is a really good company to deal with.

[fox88gt]

Aquacraft stands behind their products. My Revolt had a flex shaft failure under warranty, and all I wanted was a new prop (already had an upgrade shaft ordered). To my surprise, a box promptly arrived with a new prop, flexshaft, drive dog, prop nut, strut bushing, and set screw. Talk about service! I'm pretty sure I spoke with Adam as well.

They seem to understand that if you treat people right when something goes wrong, the customer will remain loyal. So I went out to the hobby shop and bought a Lucas Oil catamaran

[olwarbirds]

I have sold Aquacraft and Proboat, both companies great to work with. Tower hobbies and Horizon are the top 2 USA distributors for a reason. Only customer service Ive found better than them is OSE ! ..... I would suggest getting an upgrade in radio when you can...love my spektrums, been using them since they came into being. I got to test some of the first Air versions....have fun... DJ