OK guys real quick update - Just got back from HPI corporate office -
Yep, as I said before I will be showing up at HPI's doorsteps today and I did! As a matter of fact. I called this morning and talked to Andrew and he said to just to come on down and bring the truck.
When I arrived I was greeted by a lovely young lady at the reception desk. One thing I need to mentioned though, HPI's got a HUGE, I mean HUGE facility! It almost fills the entire block on the street.
Anyhow, 5 minutes later a guy by the name of Chris Lugo came walking out and greeted me with a warm smile. I told him exactly what happened and his IMMEDIATE response was - Yeah this happened to my buddy's Flux the other day too. The whole thing (ESC) melted. I was taken back a little. I thought that was an interesting statement. Hmmm...
Then he asked me to leave the truck there while they examine the batteries, my radio and the burnt parts. He said that he was going to get the ESC and the motor replaced. However, I pointed out that the Transmission and part of the chasis were burnt too and I asked whether he was going to replace them as well? He pondered...I further added that maybe it's better for them to just get the truck swapped out.
He then said that, that's probably the best solution. Needless to say I was happy hear that. However, he said that he had to clear it up with his supervisor first. Then he left and went back tp his office to talk to the supervisor, 5 minutes later he came out and said that they have decided to just replace the burnt parts and asked me to come back in a an hour or so. My heart sank :-(
So we went to grab lunch and when I was heading back round the corner from HPI, I got a phone call back from Andrew telling me that my truck was ready. It's was definitely good news, but what was about to unfold was even better!
I walked into HPI's reception area and waited for about 10 minutes anxiously ..Then came Chris Lugo walking out of the door with a BRAND NEW FLUX in the box!!! Needless to say I was elated! He said that it was just too much for them to replace all the burnt out parts and the supervisor went ahead and OK'd the swap out! Not only that, they programmed my batteries to work with the ESC , included Castle Creations USB programming kit AND swap out my receiver for my Futaba 3PM to work on the new truck - What Service!!!. I asked him what happened and he said that after doing some diagnostics on the ESC, they found out that it was a faulty circuit on the ESC unit. He said that they were able to pull data off the burnt, melted out ESC. Interesting I thought....
We chatted a little and he gave me a few useful tips for the Flux. I hope this proves helpful to new Savage Flux owners like me as well. Here are some tips, no major revelation but really useful tips -
Before running the truck.
1) Take the grub screw out and red loctite it. Leave overnight for it to set.
2) Tighten up the Spur Gear ALL THE WAY or your Slipper Pad will fail.
3) Program the throttle so that the truck is more controllable. This will cause less future damage done to the truck.
4) Don't do too many Wheelies and Backflips if you want your truck to last longer. (I thought this was funny, since this is all they show in their commercials)
5) The truck is RTR, no gearing needs to be done whether you are running 2S or 3s!
Just want to say big THANK YOU again to the folks at HPI and especially Chris Lugo for taking good care of me. He even gave me his card and said that I could call him anytime for advice.
HPI is a great company and backs up their products 100%!!!
Can't wait to run it again!
