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my new 1/16 HL Jadgpanther smoked!

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:52 pm
by scbvideoboy
I put the battery in and a few moments later before I could close the cover the whole tank was smoking and melted the harness and more :(

I just emailed RC Command.

I have heard stories about HL quality and this is the first one that didn't work out of the box. I have just about all of them.

DH

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:59 pm
by pickelhaube
YIKES !!!!

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:31 pm
by Panzer_M
can you post a pic?

* HL crap !

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:58 pm
by MG-42
* This is the main reason I won't fool around w/ HL stuff. * :?

.......... even though they'll probably replace it.

............. Good Luck w/ that ! ! ! * :wink:


Mitch v MG

Re: my new 1/16 HL Jadgpanther smoked!

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:35 am
by ostketten
scbvideoboy wrote:I put the battery in and a few moments later before I could close the cover the whole tank was smoking and melted the harness and more :(

I just emailed RC Command.

I have heard stories about HL quality and this is the first one that didn't work out of the box. I have just about all of them.

DH
It's unfortunate that it happened, but Bill at RC Command has a great customer service reputation and I'm sure he'll send out a replacement for you pronto. I hear he also fully tests each model before sending it out, so it seems weird what happened to yours. :shock:

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:16 am
by pcsguy88
He tests some of them before shipping. Sorry to hear about your troubles, I'm just glad it happened immediately so you can get a replacement. I would request he tests the next one. I am yet to have any issues with HL that I did not bring on myself. Sounds like a very bad solder job on the one you got.

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:30 am
by FieroDude
I thought the smoke was one of those features that came on the upgrade version?

Seriously though, that sucks - I hope you can get it resolved and replaced quickly and with minimum headaches. If it makes you feel any better, when I ran a TV/appliance store back in the 90's, we had a RCA 52" big screen do the same thing when we plugged it in on the display floor! The whole back panel melted and you could see a brief flash from the internal electronics vaporizing reflected on the screen! Thank god it didn't get in a customer's hands!

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:05 am
by grunt1
FieroDude wrote:I thought the smoke was one of those features that came on the upgrade version?
Yeah, check the box and make sure you didn't mistakenly order the battle damage edition.. ;)

Kidding aside, sounds like a pretty good case for an RMA. Let us know how it goes.

HL quality

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 1:54 pm
by ARMY GROUP 1
I have had 2 Jagdpanthers for the last 4 days, both run well. Two more on order. Understand relacing a damaged one is no problem, though this would not be pleasant experience for a first time buyer of HengLong.

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:01 pm
by scbvideoboy
Yes I've contacted RC Cmmand and he'll be sending me a new board and battery.

When I first plugged the battery in I got the flashing lights and I spent several minutes trying to get the battery in just right to close the cover.

I turned the switch off and bam, just like a movie, smoke just billows out of the tank, by the time I got the battery off the harness was toast.

I have a bunch of HL's this was the first bad one.

DH

Re: my new 1/16 HL Jadgpanther smoked!

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:28 pm
by Panther F
Well, you know what they say ... s#!t happens! :( But it sounds like Bill's got ya covered and that's great. :D

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:08 pm
by scbvideoboy
I took the tank apart to see, and I see no visible signs of shorting on the boards, the only thing I see is on the on/off switch I have two red leads touching. My therory is when I turned the switch off, it shorted the battery.

The smoke was from the harness melting.


Image
Image

DH

Re: my new 1/16 HL Jadgpanther smoked!

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:15 am
by Panther F
Those are some sloppy solder joints on the switch, but who knows after a short like that. I still like a mechanical connection (wire in the tab) then solder it so heat won't loosen a soldered joint.

But the area where it looks the worse is the source of the short. I'm sure it worked when tested, but when it was pushed back into place to run the tank a connector that was out of place did it in. I don't like Tamiya connectors for this reason alone. They can back out of the plastic so easily.

Hope there's no other damage besides the battery and board! Keep us filled in!

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:14 am
by Black_Dragon_One
can you post pic of your stuff.

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:23 pm
by pcsguy88
I'm really glad this is not your first HL. That might be enought to scare a newb off for good. Hopefully you run stock batteries and did not just lose a $50 aftermarket one. Glad Bill is hooking you up, it's the reason I buy HL exclusively from him.

Re: my new 1/16 HL Jadgpanther smoked!

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:41 pm
by Panther F
pcsguy88 wrote:I'm really glad this is not your first HL. That might be enought to scare a newb off for good. Hopefully you run stock batteries and did not just lose a $50 aftermarket one. Glad Bill is hooking you up, it's the reason I buy HL exclusively from him.
Same here! :P

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:14 pm
by scbvideoboy
Black_Dragon_One wrote:can you post pic of your stuff.
What, the picture of the smoked tank or the HL tanks?

All my HL's are in the box. The only HL I don't have is the Tiger and the half tiger half panther "thing"

DH