Replacement UL-1 arrived today....WTF?

[sailr]

My statement about Chinese products referred to the hobby world. This forum is to discuss hobby products. I don't wish to get into political discussions. But you might also want to think about E-coli in our beef and salmonella in our peanuts, etc. US manufacturers are not innocent either. I CURRENTLY deal with a lot of Chinese companies. Granted, some are good and some are bad but you can say that about any business in any country in the world, including our own.

I am not blaming AQ for anything except the shoddy hull which could have been avoided without any increase in cost to them.

QUOTE=skibo2;82386]

Your blanket statement is off the mark. MOST of what we are running today comes from China and there is some top quality work coming from there. The Chinese make exactly what you tell them to make. They are not mind readers or proactive and will rarely offer anything better than what you have ordered unless you tell them. Look at the Delta Force hulls that are so popular. Good stuff. Nearly all of the hardware being sold by everyone is coming from China.

The motor and ESC in the UL-1 is also made in China and they work great...also the 2.4ghz radio.

It would be great if we could "buy U.S. only" but then we couldn't afford the hobby.

Sailr, you may think my previous remarks are off the mark but apparently you don't read the papers or listen to the world news. I refer to the melamine that was added to pet foods, melamine that was added to dairy foods and the addition of substandard materials that a company used in drywall shipped around the world. These are all documented violations of both world ethics and even the Chinese government agrees and is prosecuting the companies involved. I do agree that NOT ALL chinese companies do business this way but greed has reared its ugly head in a lot of places in China. I retired from a company that had a lot of dealings with Chinese manufacturing companies, some were great and others were a major problem. Your post sounds to me as thoiugh you are putting the blame entirely on Aquacraft.

[Steven Vaccaro]

I said it before, I'll say it again. AQ is and has been a stand up company. They have helped 99% of the problems that have arose with the SuperVee. I'm sure they will take care of any problems with the UL-1.

So far I see three issues.
(1) the water jacket. Easy fix, buy a new one or call them for replacement parts in the very near future(if not presently available).

(2) the turn fin area. It has been addressed on how to fix this area. Check the thread out and fix it BEFORE there is an issue.

(3) hull stress cracks. This is an area no one likes. But if you want a stronger boat that is slower, they are out there for purchase. If you want a light fast boat this is something you will have to deal with. I don't know to many rc vehicles that crash as 40 plus mph that come out unscathed. I also personally own a H&M viper that the hull alone cost $175 or so. Guess what it has stress cracks that I'm not happy about, but know that its part what goes along with a boat of this nature.

This thread is headed no where quick. Please keep on topic or start a new topic.

[MarkJnK]

Agreed. I don't think there is a such thing as a RTR that is bullet proof. Heck, I spent more money maintaining my RTR Emaxx than I did the family car

Before my UL-1 gets wet it will have an improved water jacket, enlarged footprint fin bracket, turn fin reinforcement and urethane expanding foam injection. That should cover 95% of the issues and the rest is up to the water gods.

[sailr]

Steven, I totally agree. AQ has generally been really great. I suppose it's the innundation of complaints about the UL-1 that they haven't had time to sort out yet. I understand what you're saying about the price of H&M hulls, but you and I both know that good quality hulls can be had in China very reasonably, especially in the volume they are ordering. I'm just saying it's a shame AQ didn't avail themselves of that opportunity. With the quality throughout the rest of the boat, that would have made them the king of the heap in RTR's!

I said it before, I'll say it again. AQ is and has been a stand up company. They have helped 99% of the problems that have arose with the SuperVee. I'm sure they will take care of any problems with the UL-1.

So far I see three issues.
(1) the water jacket. Easy fix, buy a new one or call them for replacement parts in the very near future(if not presently available).

(2) the turn fin area. It has been addressed on how to fix this area. Check the thread out and fix it BEFORE there is an issue.

(3) hull stress cracks. This is an area no one likes. But if you want a stronger boat that is slower, they are out there for purchase. If you want a light fast boat this is something you will have to deal with. I don't know to many rc vehicles that crash as 40 plus mph that come out unscathed. I also personally own a H&M viper that the hull alone cost $175 or so. Guess what it has stress cracks that I'm not happy about, but know that its part what goes along with a boat of this nature.

This thread is headed no where quick. Please keep on topic or start a new topic.

[Brushless55]

Maybe AQ should not call it a RTR, they should call it ARR with a list of problems with the boat that needs to be addresed before the boat hits the water..
I have alot of RTR Traxxas and Losi Trucks and not one have I had to take apart and fix something before I ran it for the first time... I have over $1,700 in my E-Revo and that's because I wanted a fast Brushless and lipo setup.. and still the chassis is stock..

I think we have some who are venting because they thought they were getting a RTR and to find out that when they open the box to their new Boat it's already broke..

And That does kinda suck to a degree..

I got a great deal on my UL-1 and when I get it Friday and it's broke well I have all the geat hardware to but into a better hull..

[Steven Vaccaro]

What to solve some of these issues? Buy it from a local hobby shop and inspect the boat prior to accepting it.

[longballlumber]

What to solve some of these issues? Buy it from a local hobby shop and inspect the boat prior to accepting it.

That is exactly what I did.

I am sure that if you ask nicely, Steven will inspect the boat you buy from him too. However, you will not get that kind of customer service from anyone!!!!

Mike

[Brushless55]

What to solve some of these issues? Buy it from a local hobby shop and inspect the boat prior to accepting it.

That's awesome, and a great Idea..

Why didn't I think of that.

[Doozie870]

I would like to offer myself for a 3 month free of charge.. Aquacraft/china factory inspection, lets get to the bottom of this right now..

[Brushless55]

Got mine from Tower on Sat. and it is in perfect shape!
Now I'm trying to follow the advise from you pros on the setup to get it to run great!

[Mash13]

the QA thing is everywhere in large companies. I have a DX3.0 Spektrum transmitter that makes whatever I put it in do the hokey pokey all over the place. This has been sent back and COUGH repaired COUGH 4 times (on its way back on the 5TH). I live in Australia, bought it over the net from US and costs me everytime I post it, although I do get refunded eventually. What the parent company looks at is the amount of good Vs bad units it sells. Say it sells 1000 units 40 of them are bad. This might fit in with their projected acceptable losses, so to them its accepted. I feel your pain, my dodgey spektrum sent my baja 5b off into a fence flat out. Things in todays world just seem to work this way most of the time, which is a real shame in my books.
I was looking forward to a UL-1 for my birthday, but I might just hold off for awhile.

[VKGT]

FWIW........My final replacement JUST SHOWED UP the other day..... You think it's worth that kind of wait? I DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I hadn't already bought $200 worth of batteries and upgrades for this boat I definitely wouldn't have waited on it... GP Claims that they were on backorder, all colors! I'm not happy with Aquacraft OR Great Planes ... Thanks a lot for terrible and sh*tty service!!

[ncornacchi]

Hi Guys,

Longtime reader, firstime poster....I am the owner of 5- Ul's, all first generation.
I also have experienced all of the problems: cracked turnfin support, leaky waterjacket, collets breaking/losing shafts, split seams, popping caps, etc, etc......But you know what?, This is our hobby, and we didn't pay $500 for a hull only, we paid $300 for a complete setup,,,yes, with flaws, but so what,,...we got a boat that needs tweeking and attention and ingenuity. Half of the fun is tearing it down and paying attention to what makes it tick, where are the weaknesses, what could be done to make it better ...make it your own, make it faster....have some fun....My biggest hurdle has been to augment the flow of water to the motor/esc..every one of our boats have a different idea/design on better water pickup, and so far, the red one runs like a horse and never stalls, heats or bumps. And you know what? I'm having a ball screwing around with different designs, some fail, some fly, and that's my point...don't let it get you down..if we all got the same perfect boat out of the box, and all ran them together, and they all screwed at the same speed, how fast would we get board?

[witespy]

Do not mean to bump. But I agree.

At least you where able to get grim to give you a phone call. wow! I was unlucky to pick up a old hull i have to eat now.

my post here : http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...ead.php?t=9575

All I get is a email that says : emails are personal and confidential. i can not copied in part or in whole other than in a reply to the sender. Copying this email to other emails or public forums is not permitted.

[donthavta]

I for the first time in my 62 years I e-mailed Aqua Craft with all my problems. Was told to send boat back! How could I ! I fixed things as they happened. Was told my promlems would be given to who ever................gave my cell number no calls I think her name was lisa . Would check my notes if anyone would call or care Ron S