Attack of the Clones...

[MOmo]

We all know that thanks in part to China and other countries, we are seeing more and more reverse engineering of products and cars being made cheaper and less expensive than the original.

Some out there I think get a bad rap, despite having a quality product. We also know that many companies have products that come from the same factory as others just re-badged and often different firmware or hardware but the same case.

The reason I posted this is I wanted to know if people have positive or neg. things to say about various "clone" electronics?

For me personally and specifically, I want to know about the clone receivers compatible with Futaba's FASST system.

I hear people talk about Flysky and many airplane folk I know use the "orange" receivers in their planes and most have good luck. for a few having a bad one out of 6 or 7 are pretty good odds. I think hobbyPartz or HobbyKing have a receiver variation for the Fasst and I want to get a couple for use in my Race cars (3 maybe 4) in addition to my existing 3 Fasst receiver already installed in my cars. Having a motor or ESC fail is one thing, but radio communication is Crucial. I don't want to chance it for a $30 rec if its going to fail, but to swallow $80 or so for a new Fasst x3 ain't cheap.


So this doesn't have to be JUST about Fasst. Any experience with Clones etc would be helpful.



MOmo

[Coelacanth]

In general, I like clone electronics, but there's always cut corners. There's always a reason why that sh!t is so cheap. Take my iMax B6 charger, for example. Out of the box, it's a nice-looking unit. The button pressing and function of the menus is a bit awkward, as one would expect from a Chinese company, but it otherwise worked fine. Until...

One day, I decide to charge a few batteries. The charger was sitting in a box for a year or so. I took it out of the box, connected a battery and started pressing the buttons, going through the menus...that's when I noticed, "Hey, wasn't there 4 chrome buttons, not three-and-a-hole?" Somehow, the chrome plastic button fell right out of the unit. I found the button sitting on the bottom of the box I was storing it in.

So, out comes the screwdriver and I'm taking it apart. That's when you REALLY begin to see where the corners are cut, and where cheap is cheap. Each of the 4 push-buttons are molded directly onto the press-on activators on the circuit board by a tiny little round plastic standoff that's barely a friggin' millimeter in diameter. You give these units a slight jar and I wouldn't be surprised if one of your buttons does the same thing; snaps off at this tiny juncture and falls out of the unit.

What's worse is the idiocy in the design; nothing was done to the inside of those chrome push-button tubes to prevent them from flopping right outside of the charger, should that tiny juncture snap. A simple molded ring on the inside would've prevented this, and kept the button in place in the event that the juncture cracked or broke.

So what did I do? I had to re-design the damn thing to fix it, and prevent it from re-occurring. I Krazy-Glued 4 little plastic rings to the 4 push-buttons at just about the height required where they'd press against the inside cover and stop the buttons from falling out, then carefully applied some Shoe Goo or something to the juncture and standoff of 2 of the buttons (yeah, a second one broke off while I was lifting off the top cover ) and reassembled it. It's more sturdy now, and this is surely something that could've been done by the factory.

Every el-cheapo clone item you see on the market will have something negative about it, some reason why it's so cheap. You might not notice it when taking it out of the box and admiring it, but they won't stand up for the long term.

[REMJ666]

I am on URC also because I like the ECX rc products...Great bashers...Everyone on there is budget minded and they swear by flysky products...FOr the price you can't beat them...And the radios can be hacked and many many more features added...

[kink]

If you buy cheap cloned Chinese crap you are contributing to the decline of the hobby.

[Coelacanth]

If you buy cheap cloned Chinese crap you are contributing to the decline of the hobby.

I think that's far too oversimplified. I'm only into vintage RC, I'm as old-school as it gets, restoring and modding cars that are decades old, and for me, that IS the hobby. Or at least I'm pushing my hobby in some different directions. A lot of the stuff I modded on my projects was hand-built, and also a lot of it was bulletproofing old, weak plastic parts with now-affordable Chinese-made alloy parts, and that wouldn't have been possible 10 years ago.

So, I disagree with the comment.

[kink]

It was a harsh comment designed to cause some debate. Feel free to disagree

Personally I don't like seeing what has happened. Respected old school brands who invented cool buggies and parts are being ripped off. If you buy fakes you hurt the decent companies and encourage yet more rip off sweat shops. More jobs and more profit for China. Another nail in the coffin for rc. IMO of course.

[GoMachV]

Id rather have a 6 year old kid assembling my receivers and speed controls, they have a sharper eye for that kind of thing, and their lungs aren't full of solder fumes yet

Kidding of course. I am all for buying "American" when possible but stealing and reverse engineering is how Tekin got their start, worked for them LOL

[JK Racing]

I have the FlySky radio for my son, I almost bought one for myself. I feel the latency (if that is the right word) is bad. I can really tell the difference between his cars and mine on the track. His are a handful to drive. I borrowed his T4, dropped my spektrum receiver in there and it was night and day difference. The responsiveness of the radio must be the cause.

I have a FrSky (different company) hack module in my old Futaba 1024 PCM radio and cant be happier. I feel its responsiveness is on par, if not slightly better than my Airtronics M8/Spektrum.

I run a few different clone speedos (Brushless Hobbies are Hobbywing clones), I have had no issues with them outside of user error issues (plugged the battery in backwards, DOH!). I have a Turnigy motor (not sure who it is cloned off of) that is probably the fastest 17.5 I have ever owned. Had the motor go through tech at a big race and they confirmed it is a 17.5 too (resistance meter of some type).

My overall opinion - Hit and Miss....

[REMJ666]

I think the problem for the average joe is cost...I will not pay 600 dollars for a radio when I can get one for 100 bucks that will do the same thing...I know people who race off road and they love them...I am all about buying American but what almost killed the sport was the cost of stuff going up up up...And when I talk to others that I used to race with the reason they stopped was the same thing...

[vwjuice]

It was a harsh comment designed to cause some debate. Feel free to disagree

Personally I don't like seeing what has happened. Respected old school brands who invented cool buggies and parts are being ripped off. If you buy fakes you hurt the decent companies and encourage yet more rip off sweat shops. More jobs and more profit for China. Another nail in the coffin for rc. IMO of course.

That's not entirely true. Some of the products people think are clones are actually the real deal.
Take a look at the IMAX B6 charger. It is produced in Hong Kong and has been out for a while. Losi and muchmore racing contracted the manufacturer of the B6 to produce it under their name with their label. The Losi charger was released with a cost of almost $160. I bought my B6 for $35 shipped.

Some of the products are reversed engineered, some of them are produced by one company under several names. It happens more and more to cut costs.

[JK Racing]

AND...there are fake IMAX B6 chargers out there as well. My buddy picked one up (not knowing). There are little differences all over it. The charger doesnt say IMAX on it anywhere. The box does, but looks just slightly different than pictures or "real" IMAX chargers.

[vwjuice]

Yup. I've seen those as well. There's a lot of stuff from overseas that is good and a lot that is junk. It's the same for products here in the USA.

[Coelacanth]

AND...there are fake IMAX B6 chargers out there as well. My buddy picked one up (not knowing). There are little differences all over it. The charger doesnt say IMAX on it anywhere. The box does, but looks just slightly different than pictures or "real" IMAX chargers.

I just thought I'd chime in again on IMAX B6 chargers...mine is an original; it came with the little card and prismatic identification logo that it was an original IMAX, just like Microsoft does with their software CD's, and it says "IMAX" on it...but the quality & durability leaves much to be desired. See my previous post about the 4 chrome push-buttons that break WAY too easily, and end up falling either inside the unit or outside, and there's nothing preventing them from doing so.

[knucklebuster]

Good luck finding any product made in the USA.

I know most tools, DeWalt aka Black and Decker, Milwaukee, etc. are made in China. I bought a Makita impact driver thinking it was made in Japan. Uh, wrong, China. The reverse switch broke after a few months of light use. I removed the switch completely and now use a Craftsman screwdriver to engage the switch.

That's right, Craftsman hand tools are made in the USA!!!

[GoMachV]

I work for sears, and the craftsman riding lawn mowers that we brand as ours have been Husqvarna for many many years- and they have been great. Now we decide to start switching it up and bring in an "American" company, MTD. What a steaming pile of crap those are. I am sure there are many that like theirs but after working on both its the difference between a turbo hopper and a rc10. Just as there are good and bad china built goods, there are good and bad American built. I wouldn't touch a MTD myself, even if they were made next door to me. Give me the quality Husqvarna built for us over the years.

I have had customers ask me "what moron thought of that" when I tell them they don't replace a frame when it's broke they get a new mower. My only reply is "made in the USA"