Anyone else sick of Spektrum?

[AddictedtoRC1]

Ok so I called Horizon Hobby to try and get a replacement part for my radio. The board the roller wheel goes in. The guy told me they don't offer those to customers because they don't want customers taking their radio apart on their own, but they WILL send you a replacement roller wheel. WTF? You have to take the radio apart to change the wheel. Then he went on to tell me the service rate is $30/hr. He said they "may" not charge me for it. Yeah right. Like they are gonna skip on a chance to make some money. Their customer support has gone to shit in the last year and it's saddening. Spektrum is a good radio, but just not good now that Horizon Hobby took over. Now I know some of you will want to give your opinions of "get rid of it and go with this or that." I already plan on it so you can save it. I just wanted everyone to know how bad it's gotten with this company. Not sayin don't buy Spektrum, just dont' expect good customer support when something goes bad.

[difflocker]

Good customer service is not always free.

[JeremyH]

Yeah, I got the same stuff when I broke the antenna on my DX6. I think it has something to do with the FAA or FCC.

Either way, you can usually find parts for those radios overseas. IIRC, I found a new antenna from a hobby shop in the UK......they are sometimes sold under the E-Flight brand.

[AddictedtoRC1]

Nothing to do with either the FAA or the FCC. It's because some people don't know what they are doing and end up ruining something. Well the way I see it that should be what the service center is for. If I feel comfortable fixing it, then make me agree to take responsibility for it at that point. If you walk into an auto parts store and inquire about new piston and rings for your 350 small block, the guy at the counter isn't gonna say "I can't sell you those because you may not be capable of putting your engine back together properly."

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by AddictedtoRC1

Nothing to do with either the FAA or the FCC. It's because some people don't know what they are doing and end up ruining something. Well the way I see it that should be what the service center is for. If I feel comfortable fixing it, then make me agree to take responsibility for it at that point. If you walk into an auto parts store and inquire about new piston and rings for your 350 small block, the guy at the counter isn't gonna say "I can't sell you those because you may not be capable of putting your engine back together properly."

That's what I was told anyway.

Either way, Futaba has sent me parts on two occasions for free because they were shocked that I was willing to fix my own 4PK.

[Hollaitzwillie]

Dam that sucks! I had a simalar problem too about the antenna. I just ordered a replacement one from my hobby shop.

[STEW<CO>]

Originally Posted by AddictedtoRC1

Ok so I called Horizon Hobby to try and get a replacement part for my radio. The board the roller wheel goes in. The guy told me they don't offer those to customers because they don't want customers taking their radio apart on their own, but they WILL send you a replacement roller wheel. WTF? You have to take the radio apart to change the wheel. Then he went on to tell me the service rate is $30/hr. He said they "may" not charge me for it. Yeah right. Like they are gonna skip on a chance to make some money. Their customer support has gone to shit in the last year and it's saddening. Spektrum is a good radio, but just not good now that Horizon Hobby took over. Now I know some of you will want to give your opinions of "get rid of it and go with this or that." I already plan on it so you can save it. I just wanted everyone to know how bad it's gotten with this company. Not sayin don't buy Spektrum, just dont' expect good customer support when something goes bad.

What's wrong with the wheel if you don't mind me asking? If your getting the jumping around effect and it won't settle on the menu you want, a couple of us have had excellent results with using an electrical contact cleaner spray on the wheel. I think something like MAF sensor spray or something similar.

[AR Fabrication]

Switched to Futaba last year and haven't looked back since.

[AddictedtoRC1]

The pin that goes into the chip board broke off. This is the 5th time and now the board needs replaced because it has been stripped out due to all the different times I have had to replace the wheel.

Originally Posted by STEW

What's wrong with the wheel if you don't mind me asking? If your getting the jumping around effect and it won't settle on the menu you want, a couple of us have had excellent results with using an electrical contact cleaner spray on the wheel. I think something like MAF sensor spray or something similar.

[DudeWalker]

When I had an issue with my Spektrum radio - it would not power up because the charge connector broke (my radio had like over 250 hours on it, and I used rechargables through the jack), I called them. Talked with a dude and explained the situation/problem. He said that since my Tx was out of warranty, I could and should open it up to see if I could find a broken wire. Called back after I didn't. They said send it in with credit card info to pay for service and return shipping. I did. You know what happened? They fixed the radio and shipped it back free of charge - the note in the packing slip said something like 'bad charge jack changed out - fixed at no charge for a good customer'. I think they saw that I had like a dozen models in the memory and an astronomical number of hours of use and said to themselves 'this guy has like 12 spektrum recievers, uses this for everything, has a ton of hours on it, - you know what we should fix and ship it free'. That's just what they did. I will be a loyal Spektrum customer from now on.

I find that, in most cases, these companies want us to enjoy our hobby. As long as the customer keeps his cool and discusses the problem rationally, they usually take care of you. At least that's been my experience across the board with the companies whose wares I have purchased and enjoyed over the years. Good luck. Don't assume that they are going to screw you - you just might be surprised. Remember though, that most times service costs money. Companies have to pay their employees, and good service is worth the price paid. Sometimes things given out for nothing is worth just that - nothing.

[STEW<CO>]

Originally Posted by AddictedtoRC1

The pin that goes into the chip board broke off. This is the 5th time and now the board needs replaced because it has been stripped out due to all the different times I have had to replace the wheel.

That sucks donkey balls, sorry to hear this. You got to love when someone that doesn't know hide or hair of you, tells you what you can handle and not handle when repairing your own property.

[AddictedtoRC1]

Yeah and what amuses me the most is the guy told me they don't send them out because people that aren't careful tend to pinch the wires while putting the two halves back together, or do something to screw up the computer board but never said anything about soldering something wrong. Well if wires are being pinched and dumbasses are ****ing up there internals then why send out the wheel replacement kits that require you to take it apart anyway?

[scottanthony]

Yeah my dx3-s had corrosion inside cause THEIR Spektrum NIMH batteries leaked.....$24.99 for a new roller and timer button. WTF..? Its under warranty...!

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by AddictedtoRC1

The pin that goes into the chip board broke off. This is the 5th time and now the board needs replaced because it has been stripped out due to all the different times I have had to replace the wheel.

So, how did this get fixed before? If HH fixed it, then it sounds like they fawked it up....

[JeepinDoug]

I switched to Futaba for inside cars only.
My Spektrum DX3R Pro channel jumps which makes the steering twitch.
Switching to Futaba fixed that but I refuse to use my 4PKs outside.

[Cheatin]

Originally Posted by AddictedtoRC1

The pin that goes into the chip board broke off. This is the 5th time and now the board needs replaced because it has been stripped out due to all the different times I have had to replace the wheel.

Maybe this is the reason they want to fix it, they'll probably use a smaller hammer than you did.

[EverettY]

Originally Posted by difflocker

Good customer service is not always free.

Agreed. You almost always have to pay to get Tekin stuff repaired unless it's under warranty but I've never had it take longer than a week for something to get back to me.... On the other hand people like castle and Novak and quite a few others will replace stuff for free no matter if it's under warranty or not but It usually takes quite a while to get stuff back....

[AddictedtoRC1]

Ok so finally having enough of trying to find the board I need I decided to take it into my own hands and fix the radio myself. The mod I did will no longer allow use of the Timer Function or the Steering Rate Function, but I never use either so no biggie. It also seems to work nicer ergonomically this way, but that is my opinion. Plus no more busting cheap roller wheels. So here goes. Make sure before starting you have the Steering Rate turned all the way to 100% since afterwards it will not be adjustable.


After you have your radio in half you are gonna want to unplug 3 plugs from the main board. The Steering Rate Assembly,Timer Button Assembly and Roller Wheel Assembly.









Now you will want to snip the plugs off of the Steering Rate Assembly and the Timer Button Assembly. Take the Steering Rate Assembly wires and solder them to the Roller Wheel Assembly on the back side where the 4 wires are soldered on. White=White, Grey=Black and Purple=Brown.

Now take the Brown and Black wires of the Timer Button Assembly and solder them onto the board where the Menu Button is soldered in. I don't believe it matters which side is which color as long as one is on one side and the other on the other side. If you look at the picture of the back of the Menu button you can see 2 posts are "+" and 2 are "-" connected by the chip board. I soldered black towards the side that says "Menu" and the brown to the opposite side.

This is what it should look like when everything is connected up.





Now just install the Steering Rate Assembly, Timer Assembly and Roller Wheel Assembly back in the radio being sure to keep all wires out of the way of the internal moving components.

This is what it should look like noting that now the Timer Button Assembly and Steering Rate Assembly plugs are no longer plugged into the Main Board.



Now when the radio is powered on your Timer button will be your Menu button, and the Steering Rate Knob will be your Menu Selection Knob. Everything will work just the same as before except you won't have steering rate adjustments or a timer.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by EverettY

Agreed. You almost always have to pay to get Tekin stuff repaired unless it's under warranty but I've never had it take longer than a week for something to get back to me.... On the other hand people like castle and Novak and quite a few others will replace stuff for free no matter if it's under warranty or not but It usually takes quite a while to get stuff back....

Tekin told me they can't replace the servo leads on the fxr and want to charge me $75 for a new fxr

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by losikid

Tekin told me they can't replace the servo leads on the fxr and want to charge me $75 for a new fxr

Why are there servo leads on your esc?