Spektrum DX8 Safety Warning!

[z-8]

This is a safety WARNING to all DX8 users and bystanders.

Yet another acutely dangerous Spektrum DX8 quality defect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4N9scC9yu4

See my review for a long list of DX8 safety hazards. A little googling shows that I am far from alone, this is a deadly product crashing RC models left and right. Even if you didn't throw away $430, please be careful around other users of this hazardous radio.

[gramps2161]

So why don't you post the info so members here can see your dangerouse findings with out the redirect?

[kenchiroalpha]

Hi
Wheres the proof
Take care
Yours Hank

[z-8]

Originally Posted by kenchiroalpha

Hi
Wheres the proof
Take care
Yours Hank

Youtube is finished processing. OP edited to include video documentation. That is why, in the original post, I said I would edit/add the video to the OP as soon as it finished processing.

[constantCrash]

You've probably got a bad aileron pot. send it in. If you really want to prove that you've found a serious defect, upload that settings file and have somebody else test the settings.

I debated posting at all because your post history has shown to me that your opinions and conclusions aren't worth very much. But, I'll give you the benifit of the doubt and allow you to prove yourself. In this case it's easy, UPLOAD THE SETTINGS, and someone else can verify the result. Otherwise what you've shown is that your specific radio has an internal glitch and should be sent in for repair.


There have definitely been growing pains with the DX8, and you have an early one. (I read your attempt at a scathing review over on your blog a long time ago). Have you sent it in for the required updates and to have them check your POTS?

[z-8]

Originally Posted by constantCrash

There have definitely been growing pains with the DX8, and you have an early one. (I read your attempt at a scathing review over on your blog a long time ago). Have you sent it in for the required updates and to have them check your POTS?

Not yet, but obviously the radio is useless as I have been USING it (uhg, I should have figured out more quickly that Spektrum was to blame for the incessant control problems). But I did send my DX8 in to fix a completely dead radio. This will be go around number two, after two crashed models which I originally thought were due to an OrangeRx receiver causing the control glitches. I have corrected that post. Those crashes were almost certainly due to the shoddy quality of the DX8. My first near crash is also video documented, one where I had to land with full stick deflection to save the model, due to the rudder trim incrementing opposite to rudder stick (and trim) movement.

This is just the latest incarnation of what has been an acutely dangerous product.

[kenchiroalpha]

Hi
I must say your threads do bring back some memories
Theyre quite amusing
Take care
Yours Hank

[z-8]

Originally Posted by kenchiroalpha

Hi
I must say your threads do bring back some memories
Take care
Yours Hank

Save your personal attacks and take your abuse of WF resources and other WF members somewhere else.

[kenchiroalpha]

Originally Posted by z-8

Save your personal attacks and take your abuse of WF resources and other WF members somewhere else.

Hi
Nothing personal about it
Just MY observations of your postings
Sorry if i offended you
Take care
Yours Hank

[lucas2696]

You seem like the kind of person that will 1) never be happy with anything, and 2) never give a brand new product with brand new technology a chance to get out of it's shell. I grant that the technology itself is not new, but for the maker, it is. So just give them a break and give the radio an actual chance. I honestly hate reading your reviews because of the above stated reasons, and also, I get a sense of being talked down to every time I read your posts.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by lucas2696

You seem like the kind of person that will 1) never be happy with anything, and 2) never give a brand new product with brand new technology a chance to get out of it's shell. I grant that the technology itself is not new, but for the maker, it is. So just give them a break and give the radio an actual chance. I honestly hate reading your reviews because of the above stated reasons, and also, I get a sense of being talked down to every time I read your posts.

Before retiring, I worked in the Service department of a company that built high voltage circuit breakers and the controls to operate them. Our QA department failure analysis records noted that 90% of our customer complaints come from customers that buy less than 10% of our product.

And, you can not base conclusions (good OR bad) on equipment on a sample of one or two units. Looking up field reports on other users problems is of limited use, because only equipment that has HAD problems will show up. Those field reports do not show the usually far greater majority of customers that have been using equipment with zero problems.

[z-8]

After doing some web research on this loss of/random control problem, it appears that nearly every DX8 develops this serious control problem and has to be sent back to be fixed. Doing a quick read of the users who've actually posted on sending their radios in for a servicing of this problem, it seemed to be running about 50/50 on Horizon's ability to fix the problem. So I kept looking...

Luckily, there are loads of youtube postings in addition to my own documenting this very serious DX8 defect. Reading through some the videos and comment streams, the one thing that seemed to work almost every time was properly lubricating the pots using WD-40 or a more specialized fluid.

Since I had decided to stop using this radio, and users who've demanded a refund have reportedly been snubbed by Horizon, I decided to do the user-recommended service myself, rather than throw the radio away.

Initial results are acceptable, the aileron channel appears to center consistently and only jumps around +/- 1 unit. Still not sure about using this radio in the vicinity of innocent people....

[z-8]

Originally Posted by lucas2696

You seem like the kind of person that will 1) never be happy with anything, and 2) never give a brand new product with brand new technology a chance to get out of it's shell. I grant that the technology itself is not new, but for the maker, it is. So just give them a break and give the radio an actual chance. I honestly hate reading your reviews because of the above stated reasons, and also, I get a sense of being talked down to every time I read your posts.

That's funny cause I get hate mail for grading most things too high.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by z-8

Reading through some the videos and comment streams, the one thing that seemed to work almost every time was properly lubricating the pots using WD-40 or a more specialized fluid.

Based on my past experience of repairing electronic equipment the company I worked for for many (to many) years, I cringed whenever someone sprayed the inside of one of our controls with those "cleaners". More often than not, it resulted in total loss of the control due to future reliability problems caused by those sprays. That was due to those cleaners picking up dust and dirt from the air, those cleaners mixing with high humidity, and on and on. Now, after a year or three, you have multiple connectors inside the control full of dust and dirt.

And our controls sold for over $6000.00 each. Some reached $15,000 each, depending on various accessories.

[CrimzonRider]

So what is the defect? I have been very interested in the dx8.










Also how many planets are there........?

[velojet]

Originally Posted by z-8

... nearly every DX8 develops this serious control problem and has to be sent back to be fixed.

"nearly every DX8"? Really? So you know exactly how many have been bought and exactly how many have had "this serious control problem" and have been "sent back to be fixed"? Could you share your figures, please?

[z-8]

Originally Posted by kyleservicetech

Based on my past experience of repairing equipment the company I worked for for many (to many) years, I cringed whenever someone sprayed the inside of one of our controls with those "cleaners". More often than not, it resulted in total loss of the control due to future reliability problems caused by those sprays. That was due to those cleaners picking up dust and dirt from the air, those cleaners mixing with high humidity, and on and on.

And our controls sold for over $6000.00 each. Some reached $15,000 each, depending on various accessories.

I considered that kyleservicetech. Since the components aren't sealed from dust anyway, and they are unusable and dangerous in stock form, it was a pretty easy decision. I'll be sure to avoid using the DX8 around people (and I recommend everyone think twice about being in the vicinity of these defective radios). If the fix fails in the short-to-long run, I'll simply throw the radio away. I won't sell something acutely unsafe, and I have lost faith in Horizon's technical, quality, and safety standards due to reasons already well documented.

[z-8]

Originally Posted by velojet

"nearly every DX8"? Really? So you know exactly how many have been bought and exactly how many have had "this serious control problem" and have been "sent back to be fixed"? Could you share your figures, please?

I was quoting the folks on the many forums and venues who are proposing a class action lawsuit against Horizon. I have good reason to believe their stats.

[lucas2696]

Originally Posted by z-8

That's funny cause I get hate mail for grading most things too high.

I particularly hated your review of the Eflite UMX Extra, I cannot BELIEVE you think that comparing a fully aerobatic 3D capable airplane to a Champ was a good comparison! I know of at least 6 people including myself locally that own and adore their Extras. Not only that, I've dorked mine pretty bad once or twice and it didn't hurt it more than a small piece of scotch tape could fix.
Those two planes are built for two totally different purposes, so trying to compare them is completely asinine.

[kenchiroalpha]

Originally Posted by z-8

I was quoting the folks on the many forums and venues who are proposing a class action lawsuit against Horizon. I have good reason to believe their stats.

Hi
Which forums and venues are you referring too?
Im a member of many rc forums and havent seen any news of this in any of their discussions
Take care
Yours Hank

[z-8]

Originally Posted by CrimzonRider

So what is the defect? I have been very interested in the dx8.

Which one do you mean? Try...

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...x8+glitch&aq=f
http://www.google.com/search?q=spekt...d34b7fe4309a3d

Also how many planets are there........?

It seems the latest push is to call it 12.

http://www.universetoday.com/472/off...-solar-system/

But I agree with Isaac Asimov that our Moon (capital M, not small m) is definitely a planet, since it was either captured or formed from debris after a shattering collision between Earth and another planet (the latter being the current theory). Also, because the Moon doesn't orbit the Earth, both the Earth and the Moon orbit around a point in space that is outside of either planets' volume. We are a double planet. So... 13.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by z-8

I considered that kyleservicetech. Since the components aren't sealed from dust anyway, and they are unusable and dangerous in stock form, it was a pretty easy decision. I'll be sure to avoid using the DX8 around people (and I recommend everyone think twice about being in the vicinity of these defective radios). If the fix fails in the short-to-long run, I'll simply throw the radio away. I won't sell something acutely unsafe, and I have lost faith in Horizon's technical, quality, and safety standards due to reasons already well documented.

I don't have a DX8, been perfectly happy with my two DX7's. I've just looked inside my DX7 transmitters. These transmitters have sealed potentiometers. Wouldn't do much good to spray stuff on them.

Since the pots are a critical interface between the model pilot and the electronics of the radio, would not be surprised if the DX8 also uses sealed pots. Once a manufacturer has gone to the work of certifying an electronic component, they usually continue to use the same part mfg in future products.

These pots usually use a hard ceramic resistor element that is just about impervious to being damaged. What can happen is the gold plated bifurcurated wiper could have an issue. If so, its just got to be replaced. Cleaning solutions is the WRONG treatment.

[z-8]

Originally Posted by kyleservicetech

I don't have a DX8, been perfectly happy with my two DX7's. I've just looked inside my DX7 transmitters. These transmitters have sealed potentiometers. Wouldn't do much good to spray stuff on them.

Since the pots are a critical interface between the model pilot and the electronics of the radio, would not be surprised if the DX8 also uses sealed pots. Once a manufacturer has gone to the work of certifying an electronic component, they usually continue to use the same part mfg in future products.

These pots usually use a hard ceramic resistor element that is just about impervious to being damaged. What can happen is the gold plated bifurcurated wiper could have an issue. If so, its just got to be replaced. Cleaning solutions is the WRONG treatment.

I have a Dx5e and Dx6i (and several other non-Spektrum radios). They've all been great. DX8 is the only dog.

I would rather fix it than replace it, given mountains of documented problems on the web with Horizon's "fix," which apparently only replaces the defective part with a new defective part. All while they deny anything is awry, that is becoming all too typical these days.

[z-8]

Originally Posted by lucas2696

I particularly hated your review of the Eflite UMX Extra, I cannot BELIEVE you think that comparing a fully aerobatic 3D capable airplane to a Champ was a good comparison! I know of at least 6 people including myself locally that own and adore their Extras. Not only that, I've dorked mine pretty bad once or twice and it didn't hurt it more than a small piece of scotch tape could fix.
Those two planes are built for two totally different purposes, so trying to compare them is completely asinine.

I don't think it makes sense to debate that here... but the Champ airframe is bigger, lighter, and tested over 20x stronger than the twice as expensive UMX Extra 300. It was build material, not the airplane design, that was compared. You misread it.

P.S. I gave the UMX Extra 300 a highly recommended rating. Apparently you misread that too.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by kenchiroalpha

Hi
Which forums and venues are you referring too?
Im a member of many rc forums and havent seen any news of this in any of their discussions
Take care
Yours Hank

I count 39 videos in the attached file. And some of them were just "Unboxing" the radio from its cardboard box.

Wonder how many thousand DX8's have been sold? Even if Spektrum only sold 5,000 of the DX8's, that is perhaps 20/2000 or a failure rate of 1%.