Swordfish 300 Pro+ ***Sent back for warranty repair to China!*** Disappointed***

[kevinpratt823]

I should add that, although it was denied fully and repeatedly(for weeks) that there was any issue with the SF software not calibrating correctly(she kept telling me I had to adjust my radio to 75%/125%), the day after I paid for the replacement Michelle sent me links to software updates for the 240HV, 240HV Pro+, and 300HV Pro+, that supposedly correct the issue......I guess she was holding out. If you have a SF ESC, I suggest you email her and get the update, especially if you have a Spektrum DX3c or similar.

Tyler obviously makes valid points. I typically don't have much of a problem paying where there is good customer support. If Castle made something compareable for these applications(I haven't had much luck with the HV200, and wanted the headroom of the higher ratings), I'd have bought it. Unfortunately, the other brands you mention have very little exposure/online prescence/accessibility, so not being in the hobby all that long I don't even know where to begin with them, I will have to begin some research for future purchases..........

[Steven Vaccaro]

Howard, I returned a 40/160 for repair in April at that time I was offered a 40/160 for 525.00 all in. I offered 400.00 they declined. I still had my 40/160 repaired and it was 110.00 all in. The amount of money we all pile into these boats to save 150,00 for cheap junk and a pile of grieve , where is the saving ??? I too have 4, 40/160's and they are worth every penny. Maybe Steve can put sch. back on the map and we can get rid of the sub standard equipment . we have the power, we have the cash, cash is king, lets put these jokers in there place, at the bottom of the food chain...... Sorry had a daydream their!!
Cheers, Jay. race on

The Swordfish 300 is a far cry from junk. I've sold well over 100 so far and the problems have been limited. But i agree its no 40/160. Anyone have a contact for Schultz? Ive tried in the past with no email response back.

[DPeterson]

Interesting thread.

[ray schrauwen]

There are copies to watch out for too...

YGE got knocked off by a manufacturer for Hobby King YEP esc's. Look the same but, who knows what you are getting??

Hobby King released a new 200 amp HV esc with no instructions or programmer, yet people bought them, why? Then these same people complain a blue streak in the comments section as if they deserved anything more. Who knows??? it might be a decent esc once HK gives you instructions...
I don't put Howard or anyone else in here in that category but, think before you buy some cheap stuff. I'd rather get my esc's from Steve these days just for some sort of support.

Pics of the YEP esc. Nice layout, just can't trust what is on it.

[ray schrauwen]

BTW, the SF220 pro is a totally redesigned esc from what I see on the older SF200. Sort of, and I mean slightly looks like the layout of the Fightercat escs but, I know that's not the case. MBP esc's also have that FC esc layout with giant cap bank. All interesting stuff but, not easy to trust.

I hope I can get the esc out to test before snow falls.

[kevinpratt823]

The Swordfish 300 is a far cry from junk. I've sold well over 100 so far and the problems have been limited. But i agree its no 40/160. Anyone have a contact for Schultz? Ive tried in the past with no email response back.

I would have to agree on that. Aside from a few minor things, like weight, wiring logistics, calibration issues(easily solvable once you're aware of it), and the fact that the logging doesn't seem to be capable of recording more than the last run, I really can't complain about anything (other than customer/product support, and for the prices, I know that even that may be a stretch). The fact is(especially with the SF300), I have been pretty hard on ESC's, (just take a whiff of some of my boats for proof), and the SF300 hasn't batted an eye to anything I've thrown at it so far.

On the other hand, if a company supposedly offers a warranty, and claims ratings on a product, I will certainly do everything I can to get them to honor it when the product fails while being used within those claimed ratings.

[jaike5]

Steve,
As Tyler stated in all the technical reasoning why these esc's fail or are set up to do so. Then you have to buy an other one at half price as a warranty, and that one is going to do the same thing. Just doesn't make sense to me. If you try I-care they might be able set you up with sch.
Cheers, Jay.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Steve,
As Tyler stated in all the technical reasoning why these esc's fail or are set up to do so. Then you have to buy an other one at half price as a warranty, and that one is going to do the same thing. Just doesn't make sense to me. If you try I-care they might be able set you up with sch.
Cheers, Jay.

Sorry Jay that's simply not true. If it was Id be out of business with a mountain of returned esc's or complaints.

I also personally use those esc's, the 300hv has been a wonderful control. I don't push it to 300 amps. but its in the 200-250 range consistently on 10s.

As for getting what you pay for and buying from Europe, sure their quality is better, but do some checking on some of there return policies. There have been complaints there also. Ask Mike Pags about Lehner. Ask Don Wollard about BK esc's. I've seen Schultz esc's fail. nothing is perfect.

Thanks for I-care. I've done that previously, I rather buy direct.

[iridebikes247]

the swordfish 300 is far from junk. hifei will not be going out of business any time soon either. A lot of these escs are being sold and the failure rate is prominent because of sales volume compared to higher end escs. this is something to keep in mind. If you're running one of these escs close to the limit expect to burn one once in awhile. I understand its not the burning of the esc as much as its the failure of hifei to do the right thing. They would be smart to just warranty it they sell so many of them and threads like this hurt sales im sure. granted profit margin is smaller than some escs but who cares its one esc.

so you can either buy two mgms or 40.161s or buy 3 hifeis and keep one in the packaging and still save money. it comes down to expectations. If you're expectations are very high then a cheap esc is not for you as it will only dissapoint. Me, I'm blown away a $280 esc can crank out 13kw. Schulze 40.160 is an amazing esc from what I've heard but I really don't think many applications call for the additional overhead this esc provides. swordfish 300 should work in most hardcore setups. I know people running setups with lehner motors and other high end european electronics I can't think of one of them that has provided free rebuilds or whatever.

If the boat can make or break your day buy the best escs out there.

[photohoward1]

the best avenue is to contact me when there are problems like this. That way I can jump in the middle. From the data it looks like you should be getting a free repair. Im on this.

Thanks Steve.

Keith, I agree but they sell it with that warranty. I know the margins are low. But it's fraud to advertise a warranty and not stand by it.

[photohoward1]

There is not many high end options out there for big fast Boats. What I really don't understand is why it just didn't shut down if I was pushing it hard. It Monitors everything. The software could shut it down. My Schulze's shut down if they get hot or over amp. My Seakings shut down for Pete's sake, and they are cheap. All in all I have been satisfied with the SW controllers. I also have a 240 pro that works and another 300 that works. You can't beat them for price. Castle's never liked me. I touch them on the bench and they go poof. (I just have an electric touch I guess.)

[iridebikes247]

I have a feeling they're going to do the right thing now. Steve is without a doubt their top retailer

[ray schrauwen]

One thing I'd like to see from SF or others is the ability to replace the caps easily by solder or connector. To me they are disposable and if I was really good I could tell when to replace them or just replace them after every hard weekend of running as they are cheap to replace, just not so easy when they cram them into the space as they do.

[LiPo Power]

I like this idea Ray....

[jaike5]

Thanks for your honest input Steve . It would be a lot better if they would stand behind there warranty and not mince words and leave you hanging out to dry. Hope you can get a hold of sch. or an other high end esc company so we all have the choice on what product to buy.
Cheers, Jay.

[liteumup69]

http://www.matthias-schulze-elektronik.de/ Matthias Schulze new web site, But I do not think they are making any products??

Another newer unit to consider.. http://www.atos-modellsport.de/

[cybercrxt]

Guys, I will say this once and say it loud. If you are not adding external cap banks, then you are going to get poor results. I personally have never lost a esc, castle hydra, hydra ice, airplane ice converted to water cooling, ul-1 controller, etc, with the use of an external cap bank. Every time I have tried an esc without it...poof. I run SAW trials and again had success yesterday....with an ice controller and cap bank. A good friend with a hydra ice, but no cap bank....poof. Spend the $25 and quit wasting money on esc replacements. There is a reason a 40.160 has a ton of caps on board!!! Year in and year out I see these complaints on blowing esc's and in most cases...no extra caps.

Mike

[oscarel]

Guys, I will say this once and say it loud. If you are not adding external cap banks, then you are going to get poor results. I personally have never lost a esc, castle hydra, hydra ice, airplane ice converted to water cooling, ul-1 controller, etc, with the use of an external cap bank. Every time I have tried an esc without it...poof. I run SAW trials and again had success yesterday....with an ice controller and cap bank. A good friend with a hydra ice, but no cap bank....poof. Spend the $25 and quit wasting money on esc replacements. There is a reason a 40.160 has a ton of caps on board!!! Year in and year out I see these complaints on blowing esc's and in most cases...no extra caps.

Mike

Mine had extra caps, I also add them to all my ESC's.

[T.S.Davis]

If it were that simple why don't they manufacture them with extra caps?

[cybercrxt]

Well, call castle creations, and talk to their techs. They will tell you they highly recommend them in boat applications, and the reason they do not put more on, is cosmetics. Having a bunch of extra caps in a solid panel would take up a lot more space. Yes, these companies need to add more, but users also need to run temp checks, and be realistic with setups, and use quality batteries. There are a lot of factors, but I highly believe the biggest, most widespread killer of ESC's, is ripple current. The way to combat that...caps, and quality packs.

[T.S.Davis]

most widespread killer of ESC's, is ripple current. The way to combat that...caps, and quality packs.

I can't argue that. I don't own junk cells anymore. Keeps the ripple down. I haven't lost a speedo to a mysterious issue in some time. The last one I wrecked was due to an impact.

I did have a 2215/1y motor that kept killing ICE240LV's speedos at first pull of the trigger. Never did figure that out. Castle couldn't figure it out either. Couldn't have been ripple. Runs great on the ICE200 HV.

[photohoward1]

The did the right thing! And Thank you Steve!

Hello Mr. Howard Tucker,

Steve in OSE emailed us and indicated your case, he is also rich experience to assemble boats and know much about ESC and motor.
We will warranty your ESC.
Meanwhile, we want to claim that Swordfish Pro/Pro+ 300A are definitely reliable controllers, and we stand behind our all products all the time.

[RaceMechaniX]

Good to hear Howard. Steve you are the man!

TG

[gixx1k2]

I bought 2 of these back in August and just got my boat together last week. I got both ESC's programmed no problems, took the boat out yesterday for the maiden run and within 30 seconds one of the swordfish 300+'s went out on me. Brought the boat in no smell, no smoke, no heat, nothing. unplugged everything tried to power it back up and nothing it wont arm at all. I plugged the other motor into the suspect esc and same thing will not turn on. Any ideas ? I hope they would warranty it considering it was basically the first time having power to it.

[photohoward1]

I bought 2 of these back in August and just got my boat together last week. I got both ESC's programmed no problems, took the boat out yesterday for the maiden run and within 30 seconds one of the swordfish 300+'s went out on me. Brought the boat in no smell, no smoke, no heat, nothing. unplugged everything tried to power it back up and nothing it wont arm at all. I plugged the other motor into the suspect esc and same thing will not turn on. Any ideas ? I hope they would warranty it considering it was basically the first time having power to it.

Send it in for warranty:

You have to fill out the PDF and send with it. Look on the web for the return form. http://www.hifei.com/list.asp?mid=20

Chongqing HIFEI Technology Ltd.
www.hifei.com
Skype:hifei-michelle

Company: Chongqing HIFEI Technology Ltd.
Address: 2/F, K Building, 52 Keyuan fourth street, Gaoxin District
City: Chongqing
Country: China
Zip code: 400041
Receiver: Michelle
Tel: 86 23 68621580

Michelle <michellefuture67@gmail.com>;

[gixx1k2]

Thanks for the info, I've already printed the warranty form. Just hope they don't give me the run around

[oscarel]

Thanks for the info, I've already printed the warranty form. Just hope they don't give me the run around

Prepare for it.

[avinash inalsingh]

strange I got the same response from michelle>>> but I never ran mine, it just never worked, same price 153 US...I think the product is defective>>>I would go with a castle I don't believe in hi fei again...I using etti and castle.. cut out the headache>>

[ray schrauwen]

Every esc maker will create a headache at some point. I miss the old SF200's as I used to beat the day lights out of those and they came back for more.

Too bad HK screwed the pooch on their new 200A HV esc, could have been a contender.

By Spring there will be many new esc's out on the market, there always are.

[ray schrauwen]

If it were that simple why don't they manufacture them with extra caps?

YGE sells some massive cap banks, have a peek...

Maybe the SF esc's need some extra caps right from the go???

YGE is an alternative and the YEP HK knock offs too if you dare...