CKIRSCHNER83

Imust say that Ithought Traxxas designed great products UNTIL I purchased the Traxxas Spartan. Ibought this boat in February, and ran it out of the box that advertised 50+ MPH!!!!! Little did Iknow, the fine print mentioned "with 3S LiPo Battery Upgrade." So, what did I do? I bought two 3S 5300 Mah 11.1V Dynamite batteries for $145 a piece. Ipaid $300 to UPGRADE a $600 boat that advertises in big bold writing 50+ MPH!!! What an advertising FRAUD!!!

I ran my boat with the upgraded batteries, and boy was it fast. About 7 mins later BOOOOOM...the boat blows up and smoke is everywhere! The entire tray is fried and the boat is finished. I call Traxxas, and send the boat back under warranty to get a new ESC. They tell me, you should have it back within a week. Icall 2 weeks later and they tell me, "oh, the ESC is on backorder." OK! I call a month later and they tell me, "we somehow shipped your parts to someone in TEXAS." Meanwhile, Ilive in MD. How they messed that up, I dont know.

Ireceived my new tray of parts last Friday, andI took it out today. Running the same batteries that I was before, with a BRAND NEW tray of ESC, Motor, Receiver, ETC...I was running the boat for ten minutes and then BOOOOOOOM....SMOOOKE!!! The boat is stranded in the middle of the pond.

I call Traxxas and tell them, "it happened again" They say ok, Ill send you an email with RMAinstructions. Meanwhile, the entire inside of the boat is melted and fried. Not to mention it fried my $300 worth of upgraded batteries.

It seems like many other people have had this issue and Traxxas has designed a product that you can upgrade, however, the ESC can't handle it. It's funny how Itell them there is something wrong with the engineering of this product and all they say is, "There are only a few people with this issue. Iknow a ton of customers running upgraded Lipos that have no issues." I ask for them to pay for shipping and they deny it.

Traxxas customer service is just pathetic. All Iwant to tell people is DONOTBUYTHISBOATIFYOUPLANONUPGRADINGTHEBATTERIES. Who wants a boat that only goes 15MPH out of the box though?!

Any feedback or advice would be awesome. If you know any secrets to get Traxxas to replace my entire boat, that would be much appreciated.

And, Iwill no longer buy a Traxxas product. Bad news spreads much faster than good news :-)

MaximuM*AltitudE

Really? You actually beleived the claimed MPH on a Traxxas product? Traxxas makes decent stuff to get people into the hobby, but it looks like they didn't do their homework on the ESC in this boat. The boat itself should be fine, just get a different ESC setup.

Oh and BTW, those packs probably aren't the best for boats. Yeah, they are expensive, but they are Dynamite. Boats are power hungry and you need good cells. Crap Lipos can actually ruin an ESC, I've seen it many times.

Diesel6401

My Feedback: (1)

The motor is actually a huge problem also. It's a 2 pole motor poorly made. 4s and 5s should be fine, when you get high in unloaded rpms (6s) the amps come up a lot to sustain that rpm. Then you add it's a 2 pole and the amps will sky rocket if improperly props. Very VERY rarely can you use the same exact prop on 4s,5s,6s you have to adjust accordingly

bigcam406

the problems have been well documented.im glad i didnt buy this boat.its pretty sad when the boat gets nominated and wins "boat of the year" and it wasnt even released yet.and i find it very interesting that the designer,Tim Roberts,doesnt work for them anymore.ive read pages of problems and upgrades that loyal customers have provided to make this boat work.its a shame Traxxas cant admit that ,YES,THERE IS A PROBLEM!

wilsta67

i so want to record running mine into a rock wall of the local pond only thing stopping me is the cc motor and esc i hav put in it.

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

I was just at Hobbytown in my area lastnight and there was sitting on the counter a slightly used Spartan
ran once, and the customer said its not fast enought... [:-]
these claims on the box sells but when it does not perform then what????
oh and when I took the lid off the spartan, it had the smell of hot electronics, and it had been sitting there for 6 hours or so... [:-]

keithbradley

My Feedback: (38)

Don't they sell the boat with cheap 3000mah nihm stick packs? I would consider 5300mah dynamite lipos to be a huge upgrade.

Lack of (ability to)discharge required current can shorten the life of an ESC on a high performance boat, but a RTRboat intended for the common basher should not require ultra premium lipos. I have seen people run sv27's off of 2200mah 20C lipos with no problem. Iwoudl say the majority of lipos ran in the supervee when it came out were lower quality than almost any lipo available today. Lipo tech advanced quickly, adn even the poor performers are better than the lips of old.

I think the OP is right. Traxxas just put out a product that doesnt perform as advertised...and as far as replacing the motor and esc goes, why buy a plastic RTR boat only to use the cheap plastic hull?

MJWRC

My TRAXXAS Spartan did never get to more then actual maximum speed of 47mphas measured with on board Garmin GPS, despite falsely advertised 50+ mph?!

And that high speed run happened only after modifications, which included using four poll NEU 1527 1.5 D 1500kv, $300 plus motor (from CHRIS FINE DESIGN atwww.finedesignrc.com/deals.asp)
and two packs of the best racing MAXAMPS.com 6s 6500 mAh 60C battery packs connected in parallel and also with Octura $48 polished, razor sharpened and balanced X642 propeller from Fine Design RC(www.finedesignrc.com/deals.asp)
However the maximum speed was limited not by the power plant ability to propel/push the boat, but it was retarded due to the serious hull design limitations, which despite multiple attempts to tune/modify the optional TRAXXAS adjustable trim tabs, exhibited severe chime walkin instability bordering on crashing at speeds measured with GPS atabove 45mph!!!

Prior to that mediocre achievement of running 47mph with modified configuration, when the TRAXXAS SPARTANboat was in the stock configuration set up, she never ran faster then 44mph (again measured with on board Garmin GPS) . She was powered by the optional6s Li-Po cells though (2 times MAXAMPS.com 3S 6000mAh connected in series).

But even with that stock configuration (stock motor, stock ESCand stock cooling silicon jacket unit) boat usually quit after motor overheated
and the temperature sensor saved the boat from frying its guts within less then 45 seconds of the speed run.

I have addressed all those technical concerns with some ignorant and obnoxious Dude from TRAXXAS Support, but to no avail.
He was only argumentative, didn't render any useful advise and try to assure me thet his boat running with similar Li-Po set up over 52mph every day.
Yeah Right!? ...

After few, but not very fast yet reasonably long (~10 12minutes) and relatively succesful runs powered only by 4s 5000mAh 40C batteries the TRAXXAS ESC bursted in flames upon consequential attempt to run. The ESC crapped up befor I even took the boat of from the dock.

I went through normal hassle of sending the crap for warranty exchange, but after several weeks the new boat did the same stunt.

The only unavoidable conclusion is:

TRAXXAS SPARTAN boat proved itself multiple times and in multiple instances in the hands of variety of unfortunate owners
to be a gigantic overhyped POS!!!

It is time for class action litigation and IT IS HIGH TIME TO GET OUR MONEY BACK!

Any Legal Eagles here on this Forum?!

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

i have gps'd mine at 45 mph running 2 5300 30c batts and have seen temps of 150 at motor the the crappy flex cable broke right where flex is soldered into shaft i lost shaft and a octura prop since then its been sitting on a shelf collecting dust i dont know if i will mess with the piece of junk any more. im actually thinkin about selling it or givin it to my dad as he liked running it even with the nimhs .

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

The best fix is to buy the new Proboat Impulse 31!
Awesome components and a true racer unlike traxxas claims....

MJWRC

Yeah, cool boat, but not very fast, not for 6S Li-Po double battery power plants, yet I have to admit it is unexpensive boat for a weekend cruiser.

Now, if you say you wanna fast boat?

Here is the boat description for someone who likes really fast moving sophisticated, High Performance and reliable contraptions:

So you say you wanna fast boat? You want some history? You want fiberglass? You want all aluminum metal parts? And you want it to survive when it hits the water hard?! Then you want a Titan 29" Race Proven National Record Holder in numerous drivers' hands. Fine Design has put out a LIMITED PRODUCTION of 4.6hp Nemesis Gold brushless electric motor. Controlling this power is a 120amp/180amp surge ESC, 2-6S, Tactic 2.4 radio for long range, heavy duty drive train and sharpened and balanced racing prop. Grease and tape are included. This model also has a watertight hatch. Yellow hull with chrome black decals, and boat stand.

You can find more at my friendly marine RC boats supplier CHRIS FINE at his web site:

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Chris is a rip off artist!
He has left so many people without for many years!
He takes your money and never contacts you agaian!
Don't believe me do a search and you will find hundreds of postings on the WWW
His price on the T29 is a joke and once it gets to 50mph you have a heck of a time keeping the hull in the water....
I own a T29 and know this first hand, as well as many other who own a T29
And again his price for that setup is a joke!

ryan_t888

Unfortunetly based on past experience, I have to agree with srt10 about FD. srt10 did you get my pm?

A comfortable 50mph needs a hull well over 30" in length.

Ryan

MJWRC

I don't know anything about such problems with CHRIS FINE and his FAST DESIGN RC
and I’ve never heard from any of the seriously fast hobbyists such a slanderous stories.

After all he is in business of providing high performance & high quality service
and fast design RC models for over 15 years or so.
<o></o>
I am Chris’s customer for over 10 years
and I found his designs and his boats and his expert advice very useful and helpful.
I have few of his boats & cars over the years and all of them exceeded my expectations in performance and value ...
He offers way much better price and higher speeds which makes his stuff a better bang for the buck so to speak, then most of the other merchants.
As a matter of fact, I bought couple of boats recently "Drifter L" and V-hull T29 and both of them with proper set up
(based on Chris’s expert advise) routinely exceed 60 mph measured with the same on-board mounted Garmin GPS,
which rendered full embarrassing data disclosure about TRAXXAS Spartan boat severe shortcomings.

Also, as a repeated-return customer I often enjoy additional discounts, free shipment to California
and I was allowed many times to pay for multiple parts orders with thepayment options, which was the most convenient for me.

I've met Chris years ago in California over the Lake Legg near Los Angeles during the Nationals competition
and personally witnessed his skills, expertise and quality of the variety of products and brands that he offers.
<o></o>I can see, how some shoppers, who are looking for a cheap thrills toys might be disappointed
that Fine Design RC asking prices are beyond and above their means,
but affordability of the quality toys should not be a criteria to discriminate against the solid vendors like Chris.

It is a free Country afterall and his price strategies should be left to his business marketing demographics politics
and if you cannot afford quality of his products or his expert services, you are welcome to continue to shop at Wal-Mart.<o></o>

If you have any particular example of a personal experience, that you can share, just like I did
about my two biggest RCboating mistakes TRAXXAS Spartan boats, I would be glad to consider your story.
<o></o>But rambling opinions base on some anecdotal Internet rants of disgruntle customers,
who are frustratedwith their inability to afford good stuff are usually only deserve to be ignored.

Like I’ve pointed out, even comparing the boat you suggested Proboat Impulse 31
to a TRAXXAS Spartanboat didn’t make any sense (apples to oranges).
We weretalking about TRAXXAS Spartanboat that is capable of being pushed by the double 6S Li-Po's
and you introduced your solution with only 4S Li-Po's capable boat,
which TRAXXAS Spartan can handleall boring day longat44mphwithout a glitch

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srt10

My Feedback: (20)

this sounds like a shamless plug for the biggest ripoff in FE history!
I've heard one good thing for every 20 bad things from that thief
so many people have gotten ripped off by this guy he should be investigated!

and Ryan resend the pm
thanks!

my opinion stay far far away from fine design and the spartan
buy from a real company who takes this serious like Proboat and Aquacraft and have a kick butt boat
one that takes the others appart and for cheaper!!

ryan_t888

Yes, there are a few nicer models available out there. Re-sent pm srt10

Ryan

Wet-N-Wild

I have the spartin, the second time I used it, it had a lot of smoke when i removed the lid. I do have to say that I called Traxxas told them my problem. I was told to remove the tray and ship it. I did, a week later it came back with new Castle speed controller in it with a Traxxas sticker on it. It also had a new motor as well. I charged my lipoly batts, threw it in the water and what a difference from when I first used it. With the rest of you I did have a problem, but I have to say they took care of it right away.

ryan_t888

I believe this hull is now bought with a more appropriate power system.

[link=http://towerhobbies.com/products/traxxas/trab59.html]Spartan with castle esc[/link]

Ryan

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

much better package

hendocap

I think all traxxas is entry level garbage, why even bother upgrading it, use it for what it is , or save your $ and buy a real boat & gear . JMO

madmorgan

My Feedback: (2)

amen hendo traxxas = junk

Wet-N-Wild

dont get me wrong, I have 2 other gas boats. This is just fun at the islands with the other boats around, nobody complains about the noise. When they go in at the end of the day I break out the gas.